Church Girl
by Panckles
Summary: He doesn't like her. She's a goody-2-shoes, a bible-hugger, and nerd. Or so he thought. As he spends more time around her, his eyes are opened not just to who she really is, but to who he is - and who he should be. Auslly multichap. AU. They're mostly in character. Is a little spiritual. Review?
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Austin and Ally, just the plot of this story.**

**Hope you like! Please tell me if I should continue after reading. (P.S. Austin's thoughts will be quoted in ****_italics_****.)**

Chapter 1: _Making Enemies_

Austin's POV:

Dallas and I rush back to our seats quickly, doing our best to act natural while trying to hold in fits of laughter. Oh, this is gonna be good.

You see, Dallas and I had gotten into the classroom for Chemistry early to stick super-duper glue to the seat of one of the desks. The best part – we don't even know whose desk it is! It just adds to the thrill of the prank.

One by one, the kids roll into the classroom, none of them sitting at the desk. We were starting to get impatient when a short brunette whose name escapes me walks in and starts making her way over to the desk. I try to contain my laughter as we watch her sit down on the super-duper glue covered chair, completely unaware of what she's just gotten herself into.

A few giggles escape from us, which makes her turn and give us a suspicious look. She starts to move around a little in her chair when a look of horror appears on her face. She attempts to stand up, but her pants start to rip, so she immediately sits back down as Dallas and I start cracking up. No one else seemed to notice but us. She glares at us, and then turns her attention to the front of the class where the teacher walked in. She was probably about to tattle on us, but I really didn't care.

Surprisingly, she doesn't say anything to the teacher.

"_Maybe she's planning her own personal revenge…" _I think to myself.

Whatever, it doesn't matter. I just can't wait until the end of class when she has to get up…

"Since it's the first day of school, I'd like everyone, one by one, to stand up and tell us your name, grade, and something about yourself. That way we can start getting to know each other," the teacher announces. The girl's eyes go wide, and I laugh silently to myself. Looks like I'm getting my wish sooner than I thought.

It starts in the front row, which is where the girl is. I'm in the second row, behind her and just to the left. Dallas is directly behind her. Some boy named Ethan is the first to stand up. I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying because I was too busy watching the girl freak out as her turn approached. This is some good entertainment.

Her turn comes around, but she doesn't move.

"Sweetie, don't be shy. Just stand up and tell us your name." The teacher says. I notice I don't even know the teacher's name yet. Shows how much I pay attention in school.

"Can I-um, Can I just say it from where I'm sitting?" She asks the teacher shyly.

"_Please say no, please say no, please say no!" _

The teacher smiles softly, "I think it would be easier for the class to hear you if you stood up."

_"Yes!"_

"But I can't."

The teacher's smile drops.

"Why not? What's wrong?"

The girl looks over to me. I stick my tongue out at her.

_"Looks like she might rat me out after all…"_

She sits for a few seconds, seemingly deep in thought, when a wave of relief washes over her face.

"_Oh no…"_

The brunette takes off her jacket, ties it around her waist, and stands up quickly (taking any bit of her pants that hadn't ripped yet with her). But, to my disappointment, the jacket covers up the rip perfectly. I can't believe she out-smarted me!

I cross my arms and mutter "_Loser"_ under my breath.

i really don't like this girl.

She smiles confidently, "I'm Ally Dawson, grade 11, and I play a lot of different musical instruments," She says, then sits back down.

_"Even her name screams 'Loser!'"_

"Music, eh? Should we expect to see you in any school productions?" the teacher asks.

Her? In a _play_?

"_Gross."_

"Uh, No, I have stage fright…"

_"She loves music and plays a lot of instruments but she has stage fright? How loser-ish (It's a word, cuz I said it)."_

"Oh, that's too bad." The teacher says, then continues with the introductions.

I fiddle around with my guitar pick necklace until I hear the teacher clear her throat loudly, so I look up. Apparently it's my turn.

I stand up slowly, "My name's Austin Moon, I'm in grade 11, and I love pancakes," I say unenthusiastically. I don't know why I mentioned pancakes of all things, but it's true. I do love pancakes.

Pretty soon, the class is already over and the bell rings. Like on most first days of the school year, the teacher mostly talked about what we were going to be doing, so not much happened. It's a pretty easy day.

I suddenly remember about the Ally girl, so I turn around just before leaving the classroom to see her still sitting there, deep in thought as she stares down at her desk.

"_Time to have some fun with this girl..._"

I smile as I make my way over to her. She gives me a quick glance, and then looks back down at her desk.

"Gee, I sure hope you have a spare pair of pants. I wouldn't want anyone to see your underwear!"

She glares at me then gets up and fast-walks out of the room. I can't help myself. I run and catch up to her, poking her in the back repetitively at she walks down the hall.

"Ally, I gotta tell you something. Ally, stop. I gotta tell you something important!" I nag her.

She finally spins around and suddenly she's in my face,

"What?!" she exclaims, and I can see the anger in her eyes.

I somehow keep a straight face as I say, "Nice undies."

"Ugh!" She yells in frustration as she runs into the girls' bathroom.

First day of school, and I think I've already made a new enemy.

"_Nice job, Moon. That must be a new record."_

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(**A/N I don't know what day of the week the first day of school would usually be for you guys, but I'm just gonna pretend it was on Friday for them, ok? Ok.)**

I wake up with my face buried in my pillow, and my stuffed Dolphin clutched tightly to my chest. I sigh, thinking it's another day of school when I realize that it's Saturday. I look over at my alarm clock. It reads "12:15 PM. I decide to get up. I'd sleep in longer, but I know my mom would get really upset if I didn't get up soon. Plus, I wanted to hang out at the mall with Dallas today anyway. I can't do that if I'm sleeping through the whole day.

I pull myself up out of bed and make my way over to the bathroom door when I'm greeted by the beautiful smell of pancakes. This could either be really bad, or really good.

You see, when my mom was in a really good mood, she cooked pancakes for breakfast. But she also did that when she had bad news…

So then, the smell of pancakes brings both fear and excitement to me.

I put my shower off and make my way down the stairs to find my mom making LOTS of pancakes.

"Hey mom…" I greeted her slowly.

"Oh, hey honey! Did you sleep well last night? I hope so. I made pancakes!" She says nervously. She has pancake batter all over her face, her apron was on wrong, and she was holding a spatula. If she wasn't my mom I'd think she was crazy.

"_Great, looks like bad news…"_

"Ok, what's the bad news mom?" I ask.

She puts down her spatula and sighs, "How did you kno-" I cut her off,

"We've been over this, mom. Just tell me what the bad news is." I start plating myself pancakes as she takes a seat at the table.

"Well...you see, your father met a friend, and that friend introduced him to a church-" I interrupt again,

"I don't like where this is going."

"_Where's the syrup?" _I begin searching the cupboards.

"It's a great church, honey! I visited last Sunday with your father and-" I slam the cupboard shut.

"Wait, you guys went to church last Sunday and I didn't know?" I ask, anger in my tone. How many things do my parents do behind my back?

"Yes, you were still sleeping. Anyway, I think you'll like this pla-"

"MOM!" she stops talking and just looks at me. I'm probably going to get in trouble for interrupting her later, but I don't even care right now.

"I don't care what you say, I'm not going to church again!" I say it like I mean it. Church is _not_ my thing.

"Yes, you are!" She stands up from her seat.

"_NO, _I'm not!" I slam down my plate of pancakes, causing some to fall onto the ground.

My mother gives me the scariest glare I've ever seen on her, even worse than that one time Dad insulted her favorite boy band (yes, my mom is very weird.)

"You are going to church tomorrow morning, and that's FINAL," She walks up the stairs, into her room and slams the door. I wince at the sound.

One Sunday service wouldn't be so bad…

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After eating breakfast and showering, I leave the house and head to mall without saying anything to my mom. She knows I go to the mall on Saturdays, plus I don't think she wants to talk to me right now.

_"I can't believe she's making me go to church! Maybe I can get dad to side with me on this…"_

As I walk to the mall, I pull out my phone and text my dad.

To dad:

_Mom says we're gonna go 2 church 2morrow. Is this 4 real?_

He responds a minute or so later:

From dad:

_Yes. U r going, don't bother arguing._

I let out a moan of frustration and put my phone back in my back pocket.

"_This better just be a one time thing," _I think to myself as I enter the doors of the Miami Mall.

Man, I love this place. I spend almost all of my free time here, just chilling with my friends and checking out some of the cool stores. And, of course, meeting a few cute girls along the way…

I make my way over to Mini's where I find Dallas and some other guys from school. He waves me over excitedly like he has something good tell me. I pull up a chair and sit next to him.

"Hey Austin, guess what?" Dallas says, turning to me while the other guys chat about how cute the tiny food is or something stupid like that.** ***

"What?" I ask excitedly.

"Well, you know that new music store "Sonic Boom" that was going to open in the mall soon?"

Oh yeah! Dallas and I heard about it a couple weeks ago and we were pretty excited about it. Honestly, Dallas was only really excited about the possibility of there being any new, cute female employees. I, however, was more interested in the store itself. I _love_ music, and I can play basically any instrument I can get my hands on. An awesome music store would be the perfect hangout for me. Plus, who knows? Maybe there would be a cute girl there.

"Yeah, what about it?" I ask, a smile spreading across my face.

"Well it turns out it opened yesterday! I've already checked it out, and I think you're going to like it." He gives me an evil smile.

The way he says that gets me thinking that there's something I'm not going to like about this.

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Dallas takes me over to the store, and as soon as I see it I get pretty excited. It already looks like an awesome store! But as we near the doors, he seems to be stifling a laugh.

"_He knows something I don't..."_

I push through the doors and gasp in awe. Sonic Boom is awesome! It has an awesome design, lots of instruments all over, and a weird (but awesome) collage of guitars and such going up one part of the wall. It's almost like a tree made out of instruments!

I make my over to the drum set on the other end of the store while Dallas talks to some random girl. There's a sign next to it that says "_Please do not play the drums" _but I pick up the sticks anyway. I don't care about rules. I never did.

I suddenly feel someone tap my shoulder from behind. I turn around to see an all-too familiar brunette, and I laugh silently to myself.

"_Dallas..."_

Excuse me but, what are you doing?" She says, folding her arms over her chest.

"I was about to make your day by showing off my amazing drumming skills," I respond, twirling the sticks in my hands.

"Ya know, I'd love to hear these _amazing_ skills for myself, but there's this pesky old sign over there that you seem to have overlooked," she says, pointed over to the sign.

"What sign?" I ask, playing dumb with her.

She rolls her eyes as I reluctantly get up from the seat.

"How did someone like you get a job here anyway?"

She takes the drums sticks from me, "My dad owns the place."

Her dad owns the store? Man, I wish my parents owned something cool like a music store, rather than a stupid "Mattress Kingdom." ** That's one kingdom I do _not_ want to rule.

She walks over to the counter and I follow. my eyes widen when I spot a big bowl of guitar picks with a sticker that reads "FREE" on it.

"Sweet, free picks!" I exclaim as I reach over grab it. Ally snatches it away from me, glaring. "Please get out." She says calmly, but with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

I glare back, "Gladly! Not having you in my line of vision sounds like a _great_ idea to me!" I hear her sigh as I spin on my heel and head toward the door.

I decide to just forget about Dallas and head home early today. I'm kind of tired and I'll probably need plenty of rest for tomorrow.

I really hope my mom doesn't make me get all dressed up. They do say "come as you are," don't they?

Then I'll be myself, whether they like it or not.

**That's the first chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! I bet you all already have an idea about what's going to happen at church the next day... ;) **

**~Bri**

***The tiny food at Mini's, as seen on the show. **

**** His parents own a store called "Moon's Mattress Kingdom" in the show.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I got a few reviews asking about the church, so I'm gonna adress that real quick. The church is going to be a lot like mine, which is nondenominational Christian. And yes, I am a Christian. But the story isn't really going to be focused on God that much, of course.**

**Again, I don't own Austin and Ally.**

**Thank you to all who followed, favorited or reviewed! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.**

Chapter 2: _New church, new friend._

Austin's POV:

By the time I get home, my mom is making dinner and my dad is watching the news comfortably on the couch. I walk into the kitchen and they both turn their attention toward me.

"…What?" I ask, taking off my jacket and lazily throwing it on a chair.

"Where have you been? And you could hang up you jacket, you know," my mom says as she picks up the jacket and starts putting it on a hanger.

"I've been where I always am on the weekends: the mall!" I plop down at the kitchen table.

"When did you ask me? I don't remember ever being notified that you were leaving the house," She says, turning her attention back to the dinner she's cooking. It smells like pasta, one of my favorites,

"Since when do I ever ask? You guys know where I am!" I say, raising my voice.

My dad cuts in, "_NO,_ Austin, we don't. You could've been anywhere, you could've been kidnapped for all we know!"

"And on top of that, you weren't answering any texts or phone calls!" My mom adds.

"_I wasn't?" _

And that's when I realized that I didn't have my phone with me anymore. I must of left it at Sonic Boom!

"Yeah, I'm sorry ok? But right now I need to make a quick trip back-"

My mom interrupts me this time, "No, you're staying here. It's time for dinner, and we're eating it as a family!"

"But I nee-" I try to explain, but my mom cuts me short.

"Not but's! Now sit down while I plate you some food," she looks over to my dad, "You too, Mike. You're not eating at the couch. Turn off the TV."

"But I'm watching the news!" She glares at him.

"Fine," He comes and sits across from me at the table.

A minute or so later, we're all sitting at the table eating in an awkward silence. My mom tries to start conversation.

"So, tell us about you first day of school, Austin," she says, placing her fork down next to her plate.

I take a quick sip water to help swallow my food, "Eventful," I say before sticking another bite of pasta in my mouth.

"I didn't ask for a one-word description. Give us more than that, Austin. We want to know what's going on in your life," Mom says, my dad nodding in agreement.

I sigh and put my hands to my face.

"…You aren't getting bullied, are you?"

I burst out laughing at this, but it quickly dies down.

_"More like the other way around..." _Where'd that thought come from?

"No!"

"Ok then, what's up? Did you make any new friends or are you still hanging around with that Dallas kid?" She asks.

"I don't think I like that kid," Dad says.

"What's wrong with Dallas?" I ask, offended.

"Nothing it's just…we don't know much about the kid," he explains. I can tell there's more to it than that, though.

"All you need to know about him is that he's my friend!" I say, getting up from the table and running up to my room. I grab my guitar and start strumming randomly.

"_'We don't know much about the kid', well that's exactly why you shouldn't judge him!"_

I don't know why I'm getting so upset over this. Who cares what my parents think about Dallas? I know he doesn't

"_I'm just offended that they'd question my choice of friends, I guess." _I think to myself.

I slip the guitar strap off and carefully place the guitar back on its hold. If only I could write a song, maybe then I would have a chance in the music biz. It'd also be nice to have some support from my parents. They always tell me to forget about music and just work toward taking over the family business. In their eyes they're the 'king' and 'queen' of the mattress kingdom, and I'm the prince in training. But I refuse to live my life 'ruling' a mattress store. That's a lame life if you ask me. I wouldn't say that to them, though. I just tell them that I'm going to keep pursuing music, even if it seems hopeless, and that if that fails then I'll take over the business, though I really don't have any intentions of doing that. _Ever._

I lie down on my bed and daydream about Times Square, New Years Eve, cheerleaders, pancakes…dreams…sleep…

I wake up jumping up to a sitting position in my bed to the sound of the door swinging open loudly.

I look over to see my mom standing in the doorway, "Time to get ready for Church!" She says, then walks back into her room.

"Ugh!" I get up out of bed and slowly make my way downstairs. I'll worry about getting dressed after breakfast.

As I eat my pop-tart, I begin to think about how this could go. There are different churches out there, and I wonder which kind this will be. Hopefully not a small church with 90% old people and only hymns to sing, or one with a gospel choir and an intense pastor with people yelling "Amen!" left and right.

My Dad walks into the room wearing a casual outfit, to my surprise. I expected a nice dress shirt or something.

He takes one look at me and says, "That's not what you plan on wearing, right?"

I look down at my pajamas and back up at him, "Of course not!" I say angrily. Does he really think I'd go out into public in my pajamas? I only did that when I was 5!

He puts his hands up in surrender then pours himself some coffee. I clean up at my seat and make my way back up to my room.

I open up my closet and peer inside. What to wear? It doesn't matter to me. Like a said yesterday, I'm coming "as I am."

I throw on my usual outfit (skinny jeans, v-neck, etc.), ruffle up my hair and walk out of the room. I hope my mom doesn't try to force me to change.

"Hey honey, come get your shoes on! We're leaving!" I hear my mom yell as I go down the steps.

"What time is this service, anyway?" I ask.

"11: 15," Dad says as he walks into the room.

Well, there's one good thing about this church. I don' have to get up too early. I didn't even notice that it wasn't early when I got up.

I put on my sneakers and we head out the door.

After about a 15 minute drive, a big building comes into view. My eyes widen when I realize that it's the church. It almost looked like a hospital from afar!

As we enter, my amazement continues. There's a tall man standing at the door, holding it open and welcoming me with a firm hand shake. The inside is filled with people walking around and talking and greeting one another. People are already coming up to my parents and saying hi, and that it's so nice to see them here again, and "Who's this young man with you?"

They talk about how happy they are to have us, and one woman says something to me about a youth group, but I have no intentions on attending. I mean, youth group? Sounds super lame to me.

My parents are entering the sanctuary when I tell them that I want to use the bathroom but I'd catch up with them. What I actually want to do is just wander around a little and check out the scene. Plus, I don't really want to be walking around with my parents. I can sit by myself.

I make my way over to where the kids programs is and watch as kids come in and out, huge smiles planted on their faces. How could they be so happy? They're at _church_. I don't remember having fun at church when I was young.

I also notice that a lot of the helpers in the classes are my age or younger.

"_Wow," _I think to myself, _"What teenager would volunteer to help out in a lame Sunday school class?"_

Just then a teenage girl walks out, waving goodbye to some of the kids.

It's Ally.

What is _she_ doing here?!

"_Just when I was starting to think that this church wouldn't be so bad!"_

I turn around and start walking in the other direction, but it's too late. She already noticed me.

"Hey! Hey Austin!" She catches up to me and I slowly turn around. She smiles up at me. Weird, I'd think she wouldn't be happy to see me.

"Hey," I say flatly.

"Hey! Didn't expect to see you here. Anyway, you left your phone at Sonic Boom," she says, holding it out to me. I almost forgot about that!

"Thanks," I murmur as I snatch it from her hands.

A few beats pass.

"So, what are you doing here? I mean, it's not that I'm not happy you're here but…" she starts rambling.

"_Man this girl can talk."_

"My parents dragged me here, end of story," I cute her off, getting annoyed with her nervous rant.

"Oh well, I think you'll want to come back again. The music here is great and-"

"Look, I'm not a churchy person and if I could make sure I never come here again, I would. Don't bother trying to talk me into being one of you, cuz it's not happening," I say, interrupting her again.

"Okay, then I won't."

Suddenly I notice the shirt she's wearing. It's a bright green color and says "Wannabe" with splashes of color around it.

"What's with the stupid shirt?" I ask.

She looks down at it, then back up at me.

"It's for the kids program. I'm a volunteer."

"_Of course you are."_

"I kind of figured. Why does it say 'Wannabe' be though?" I say, laughing slightly.

She smiles, "It's 'Wannabe' because we want to be like Jesus. That's the theme for this year." *****

_"How stupid…"_

"Ya know," she starts to say, "The next service is starting soon. Do you want to sit with me and some of my friends? I think you and Dez would be good friends"

_"Dez? What kind of name is that? And what makes her think I'd want to sit with her."_

Without thinking it through I say, "I guess so" and start to follow her into the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is big and filled with tons of chairs. At the end of the room is a good sized stage with a drums set, guitars, bass, keyboard – everything! Next to the stage are 2 big screens and at the back of the room there are men working the camera's and screens.

Ally leads me toward the front where a tall, ginger-headed boy (Who I'm assuming is Dez) and a curly-haired Latina sit. The girl is even shorter than Ally, and I can tell ber her facial expression that she doesn't exactly enjoy Dez's company.

"Hey, Dez, Trish, this is Austin. You guys probably remember him from school," She says to them.

"I didn't know the dog food guy went to our school!" ** Dez exclaims and Trish slaps his arm.

"He's not the dog food guy, dummy! Pay attention!" she exclaims.

"_Anyways, _It's nice to meet you, Austin!" she says and Dez nods.

"Sure," I say as Ally and I make our way into the row. She sits next to Trish and I'm next to Dez. I quickly find that he and I have a lot in common. We both love Zaliens, pancakes, and video games! He's a little strange, but I love it. You never know what the dude's gonna say next.

The bands comes out onto the stage and asks everyone to stand up, so we do. Here it goes.

"_Please, not with the 300 year old hymns!"_

The music actually ends up being pretty up-beat, loud and modern. It's almost enjoyable.

"_Something enjoyable at church?"_

Like in the kid's classes, the band has some young people in it. The drummer and bassist look about my age.

Also, they have a choir to the right of the stage ranging from all ages, and they aren't even wearing robes. They're dressed casually. One woman at the front is interpreting the songs in sign language. It was cool to watch.

Soon the music ends and the pastor comes up onto the stage to start his sermon. I think he's talking about hypocrisy, but right now the guitar pick on my necklace seems to have my attention. I fiddle with it until the service ends. They finish it off with one last, slower song, then they let everyone out.

"DONUTS!" Dez exclaims when we get out, running toward a table with a crowd of people around it.

"Do they have donuts here?!" I ask Ally.

She turns to me, smiling, "Yup, every week."

I squeal like a child and follow after Dez. They have all kinds of donuts, from custard filled to sprinkled to glazed and I can't choose. I end up eating 3 different kinds, which is a small amount compared to what Dez ate.

"DEZ, you're only to supposed to have one!" Trish yells angrily at him.

"Who says? I never heard the pastor or anyone say so!" He says, still chewing a donut.

She shakes her head and starts talking to Ally.

"You guys don't like each other, do you?" I laugh.

"Not really, but for the record, she's meaner to me than I am to her!"

"Well, why do you even hang out?"

He shrugs, "Cuz we're friends. It's sort of a love-hate relationship."

"So," Dez speaks up again, "Will I see you at youth group this Wednesday night?"

I sigh, "I don't know. I don't think I want to go, honestly."

"You totally should! It's so much fun! We play dodgeball in the gym, and-"

"Did you say _dodgeball_?" I say excitedly, cutting him off.

"Yes, it's really fun! You can come and be in my small group. Please consider?"

"Ok, maybe I will go."

Dodgeball sounds fun, and I'd love to hang out with Dez but…youth group? That means church twice a week! Once is bad enough. Oh yeah, then there's that fact that I'd have to see Dawson again…

Suddenly someone taps my shoulder. I turn to see my parents' annoyed expression.

"Austin, you never came back from the bathroom! Were you even in the service!?"

"Yes, mom, I just sat with them," I gesture to Dez and the rest of them.

She smiles at them then turns back to me, "I'm glad you made friends but you could've informed us!"

"Whatever. Are we leaving?"

"Yes, now come on! I don't want to miss the football game," Dad says.

I wave by to Dez and walk out the door with my parents.

Once we're in the car, my mom speaks up.

"So, what did you think?"

There's a pause. "It wasn't _so_ bad." I say.

I see her smile in the rear view mirror.

"So, um…do you think I could possibly go to youth group this week? Dez says there's dodgeball." I just wanted to clarify that dodgeball is the only reason I'm interested.

"So is that the boy's name? Oh and of course you can!"

My Dad suddenly speaks up, "So what's the brunette's name?" he smirks at me through the mirror.

I give him a nasty look, "Her name's Ally, and she's a dork. I don't like her."

"But she's so nice!" My mom cuts in.

'How would you know?" I ask.

"I met her last week after the service. She's a sweet, polite girl. You should hang out with her more, maybe she'll rub off on you," She says jokingly.

"If I'm anything like her, I'm a loser."

My mom gaps at me, "Don't say things like that! If you ask me, she's a _winner._

I laugh at my mom's weirdness and finish the conversation with an "Okay."

We drive the rest of the way home in silence as I try to imagine how Wednesday night could go.

I hope I won't be regretting this come Thursday.

**That's chapter 2! Please review and tell me what you think. **

***This was the theme at my church a few years back. Haha (and yes, I am a volunteer in the kid's program at my church. It's fun.)**

**** From the season 1, episode 2 where everyone keeps mistaking Austin for a dog food guy from a commercial.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the kind reviews and follows! Here a few quick responses:**

**_"You didn't answer my question about which church you are talkin about. Besides, what type of church has a live band, donuts served afterwards, and allows people to dress casually? That is just not okay in my book."_**

**Response: I'm sorry; did I misunderstand your question? I thought you were asking about the denomination. About the live band, donuts, and casual clothes: I'm sorry you view it that way, but I see no problem with it. What's wrong with a live band? It's just using music to worship God. And what's wrong with food? It helps to attract people to church. Also, the Bible says, "Come as you are," so people shouldn't have to feel obliged to dress up. All are welcome.**

**_"I really think this a great idea. I like this chapter a lot. Your the only person I've seen try this concept and you have written it extremely well. I hope you continue it. :)"_**

**Response: Thank you, that's so nice! I most definitely am continuing. :)**

**_"I love it! Very unique way of spreading the Gospel. Its one of a kind  
And I'm looking forward to reading about how God is going to work in Austin's life."_**

**Response: Thank you! I can't wait to write it! God is amazing. 3**

**God bless all of you! **

Chapter 3 (Still Austin's POV): _Sick days, lunch buddies, and new ways_. (HA it rhymes.)

I wake up as the sunlight is peeking through the window. Slowly, I start to sit up. Nausea hits me out of nowhere as I lift myself, and my head feels heavy like a bowling ball. I pull my legs from under the blankets, trying to place my feet on the ground, but I have no balance. I almost crash onto the floor. I steady my feet and ever so slowly walk toward the bathroom door. The nausea increases and I speed up, knowing I could start puking at any moment. I juts barely make it into the bathroom as the upchucking starts.

Looks like I can forget about school today.

My mom hears the gross sounds of me vomiting and rushes to my room. I ask her to leave and she does, just after reminding me to take some medicine with my breakfast, if I can even eat it.

Pretty soon, its over and I'm rinsing out my mouth thoroughly from the sink.

_"Nasty!" _I cringe.

The water doesn't seem to be ridding the taste, so I crash down the steps and poor myself some orange juice.

"I don't think orange juice is something you want to drink after throwing up, honey." My moms says, sipping some coffee.

I look down at the drink and realize that she's right, but shrug it off with a "whatever," and walk out of the room with a banana to eat as my mom calls my school, telling them that I'm sick.

I lazily walk into my room and drop onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. It's filled with crayon drawings and writings that I made when I was very little. I would stack up boxes onto my bed so I could reach the ceiling. It's funny, cuz my parents got so angry at me for doing that then, but now they won't let me paint over it because it's "cute."

One of the drawings is a stick figure of me playing a red, fiery electric guitar, my yellow/blonde hair flying in all directions. Next to it I wrote my name sloppily, along with "Times Sqare New Yeers Eve," spelling "Square," and "Years" wrong, of course. But hey, I was 6! Or 7. Whatever!

I prop myself up on my pillow and look around my room. It's fairly neat; I was never really a messy person. There's an old shelf up next to my dresser that hasn't been touched in probably years that is very disorganized, however. I get up and walk over to it, pulling up the shades of my window on the way.

There's a folder with music sheets in it amongst the mess, some of it with lyrics written on them. My attempts at writings songs. I was never successful, though. I've never been good with lyrics. Not at all.

There are a couple of old crafts and drawings I made in my art class in 5th grade. I was never good at that, either. My best work was a hand turkey.

I find an old rubber ball and start bouncing it off of the wall when an old, dusty book catches my eyes. I pick it up and wipe of the dust with my shirt, revealing the words "_Holy Bible."_

"_I forgot I had one of these!"_

I laugh quietly as I examine it. Sitting at my small desk on the opposite side of the window, I open up the old book.

I got this Bible from the old church I used to attend when I was in elementary school. I didn't enjoy it, and we stopped going once I entered Junior High.

Inside, the pages are slightly bent and faded from abuse. I didn't really care much for my Bible, it usually sat on the ground, getting kicked around or having stuff dumped on it. On some pages, I notice verses have been underlined by pen. Probably verses we had to memorize for prizes.

One of the things I didn't like about the Church is that I felt judged. Not just by the people there, but by God. That's pretty much God's job, right? If so, God must be very angry at me. I hadn't been to Church in years.

I decide to experiment with this. It's not like I have anything else to do, anyway.

"_If there is a God…show me." _I whisper.

I open to a new page and read one of the underlined verses out loud,

"_For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3: 17)"_

That's weird, I was just thinking about that topic. I guess that answers my question about judging. But it was just a coincidence, I need more than _that_ for me to consider God.

I flip to another page,

_"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Mathew 7:7)_

Seek and you will find…find what?

I flip back to the old testament,

_"…you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul," (Deuteronomy 4:29)_

I close the Bible and toss it on the desk, getting freaked out.

_"That was weird…"_

I lay back on my bed with the guitar like the other day, strumming out some minor chords while thinking about what just happened.

"_Just forget about it, Austin. You're being ridiculous. It's nothing...but what if it was something?"_

I start to sing a little bit of "Crash and Burn" by Lifehouse * when my mom bursts in. I turn to her, about ready to yell at her for barging in and interrupting, when I notice that she has chocolate chip pancakes. I run up and grab the plate, digging in with my hands before I even reach my desk. My mom holds out fork but I turn it down. Who needs forks? Hands work just as good with pancakes, and I can't wait another second to get it in my mouth. I didn't realize how much time had passed…it was 2:00 already! No wonder I'm so hungry.

My mom laughs, "Glad you like my pancakes so much. I would've brought some earlier, but I thought that maybe you were trying to sleeping. Then I heard your guitar. What song was that you were singing?"

"It was nothing mom, jus- nothing." I squeak out. I don't usually get nervous about people hearing me sing, but with my mom it's just…_weird. _And I know she'll just embarrass me by telling her friends (or mine) about how musically gifted I am, of course exaggerating just how gifted.

She smiles understandably and hands me some napkins before leaving the room, forgetting to shut the door behind her.

"_I hate it when she does that…" _I think to myself as I get up and close the door.

It doesn't take long for me to finish every last bit of the pancakes. I want more, but having thrown up this morning, I avoid the temptation. Stuffing myself doesn't seem to be a good idea.

I take a nice long shower, soaking in the water with my eyes closed and face up at the ceiling. The feeling of the warm watering hitting my head and running down my face is soothing, and it helps me to collect my thoughts. I feel a lot better already, so I should expect to go to school tomorrow. I wonder if I'll see Dez. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in a lot of my classes and I just didn't notice him before. He probably is. Usually all I'm thinking about in class is how long 'til it's over. And the next hilarious joke I'm going to pull. Or the next cute cheerleader I'll run into. Or pancakes. So, basically, I think about _anything_ but the class itself.

I start to think about that girl, Ally. I'm obviously not surprised that she goes to church, but it's the kind of church she attends. And she seems to have a lot of friends there. But at school, she mostly just hangs with Trish. At least from what I've seen.

I start to wonder why she was even trying to talk to me. Inviting me to sit with her. Giving me my phone back without a fight. You'd think she'd want revenge.

"_It's just my good looks. They mesmerize her." _I think, laughing out loud to myself. Maybe she did have a crush on me. Something about the idea makes me smile. I brush it off.

"_Yeah right. She just wanted to be a 'good Christian' by being friendly. But I don't want to be her friend.'" _I tell myself.

I turn off the hot water and dry myself off. I stare at myself in the mirror for a moment, taking in my appearance, when a random thought hits me.

"_If God is real and He can see me at all times...then He can see me naked right now..."_

I suddenly don't feel comfortable and get dressed quickly.

_A&A_

I go to bed early that night, hoping to feel well rested tomorrow. Hopefully there won't be any vomiting in the morning. Or, even worse, during school.

"_That'd be humiliating."_

I lay in bed, my lion stuffed animal clutched to my chest, my chin resting on its head (So what if I'm childish? Don't judge). Eventually, my thoughts drift off into dreams...

"_Nooo!" I yell, tackling Ally._

_I hear a gun - no, BAZOOKA- go off, and my legs are practically blown off. But the blood is pink. Strange._

_"NO stop Barney!" I hear Ally scream, and I look to see that; indeed, it was Barney the purple dinosaur that had shot me._

_Ally looks at me, fear in her eyes, when an alien bursts out of my stomach. She screams a loud, un-human like scream. No, not even a scream. More of a ringing, like an alar-_

I shoot straight up, suddenly being forced into reality. That screaming was actually my alarm. I turn it off and take a moment to register what just happened in my dream.

Barney shooting me with a bazooka? Pink blood? Weird. But not even the weirdest part.

Why was Ally there? And why was I taking a bullet for her? Out of all people, why did _she_ have to appear in my dream?

Whatever, it's just a dream. It doesn't matter. I brush it off and get out of bed.

I actually did sleep well despite the odd dreams, and I feel much better in general. No puke today. I hope.

After getting dressed and ready, I head down stairs and start pouring some cereal.

"You feel like going to school today?" My mom asks, entering the kitchen.

"Yup, I feel great today," I respond, taking a bite out of my sugary breakfast.

"Good. Now, don't forget to take these vitamins with your breakfast!" She says, placing different vitamins on the table.

I sigh, "Fine." My mom was always like that. Trying to make me take all of these vitamins and pills. She's worried about my health, especially after I've been sick, like yesterday.

We sit in a comfortable silence for a minute, and then she speaks, "About the youth group tomorrow...I don't think I can take you, so I asked Mr. Dawson if you could carpool with them." Dawson?...oh, ALLY Dawson!

I almost spot out my food.

"You did what now?!" I exclaim, choking on my cereal.

"You're going with the Dawson's to youth group tomorrow night," she says plain and calmly.

"Yo-wha-how? How do you even know her parents?" I stutter.

"When I met her, I met her father also. I haven't seen her mother. They're such nice people, Austin, I feel like I've known them for so long already."

I slump back into my seat and moan, "Whatever. I don't even care."

but I do care. I don't want to be in the same car as Ally. It's just...weird. Awkward. Her dad is probably going to ask about school. About whether we're 'friends' or something. I don't even talk to her unless it's to make fun or annoy, honestly. I don't like her. What if I have to sit next to her? No, wait, that's not the worst. I could end up in the front, next to her dad.

I shudder, "_Don't think about it. It'll be fine."_

I still think about it.

...Maybe dodge ball isn't worth it...

No, I can't back out now.

_A&A_

Pushing my thoughts about tomorrow aside, I say goodbye to my parents and sling my bag over my shoulder, walking out the door. The school's is close by, so I can walk there.

I walk peacefully, my ipod playing music in my ears, with a spring in my step. It's kind if weird, being in such a good mood when walking to school of all places. But I just feel like today's a good day. And this song is catchy.

I sing along quietly as I approach the entrance to Marino High School. I'm greeted quickly, which is the usual since I'm pretty popular here. Not as popular as the football jocks, but still up there.

Dallas comes up to me, "Hey man, where you been lately? You ditched me at the mall the other day and you weren't at school yesterday!" He crosses his arms over his chest.

"When I left you were flirting with some girl, so it's not like you cared. And I wasn't at school because I wasn't feeling well. But I'm here now, so y'all can relax, ok? You'll all get your time with _the_ Austin Moon," I said, joking with them.

"You were sick? That was just yesterday," he jokes back, backing away, "Stay away guys, I think he's still contagious."

I laugh, "Oh C'mon, I'm sure they'd love for me to infect them, if you know what I mean," I wink, "The only contagious thing I got is love."

They all laugh and we hang out for a while, talking about random different stuff.

After a while, I notice that my first class is starting pretty soon. I decide that today I want to actually be on time, so I say goodbye, winking at the girls as I start walking to Biology. Dallas doesn't come with me. He'll probably be late. As usual.

Before I reach the classroom, I'm stopped in the hall by a tall red-head that I recognize as Dez from church the other day.

"Hey!" He exclaims, a huge smile spread across his face.

He's got an interesting outfit. Striped pants, suspenders, and a neon green shirt with a big panda bear on it. It's colorful and crazy, but I think it's kind of cool.

"Hey Dez. Nice outfit." I say, returning his smile.

"Oh thanks. I try to make a good impression," he says, flipping his orangish-red hair. I laugh.

"So," Dez continues, "Will you sit with me at lunch today? I want to show you my Zaliens lunch box." He says enthusiastically.

"You have as zaliens lunch box?!" I say excitedly as he nods his head vigorously, "And yeah, sure I'll sit with you."

"Promise?" He says, raising his eyebrows. I guess he doubts me. He has good reason, though. I rarely do what I say I will.

"Promise," I confirm as Dez does a happy dance.

"See you then!" He shouts joyfully, skipping away,

Yup, that Dez is strange. But every one needs a little bit of crazy in their life, right? I'm sure he'll supply us with some good laughs. That is, if there is an _us_. I can't guarantee that Dallas, Cassidy and the rest of them like him as much as I do.

And then it hits me. I always sit with them. If they see me sitting with Dez, what will they think? What will I say? Will it affect my popularity?

_"Does it matter?"_

I definitely can't change my mind about it now. I just promised him, and I've already broken enough promises in my lifetime. I think I should keep one this time. Plus, what would I say to him? I can't just tell him that I won't be sitting with him anymore cuz I'm worried about my social status. That would hurt his feelings, and it would sound shallow. But maybe I'm just that shallow. I don't want to be like that, though. That's just one of the prices you have to pay sometimes, if you want to be at the top of the food chain. But sometimes I wonder if it measures up. If it's worth it, you know? Are my 'friends' really my friends if they would consider ditching me just to save their 'popularity?' what is popularity, really? What does it honestly mean to be a friend?

Wow, I think this is the deepst I've ever thought. I try to just forget about it and try to pay attention in class. At least enough to pass. I'll sit with Dez just this one week, and I'll be fine.

_A&A_

I'm surprised by how many classes Dez is in with me. I never really noticed before, which is especially surprising considering how he dresses. He kind of stands out.

I notice that, like me, he doesn't really pay much attention in class. He mostly just doodles zaliens and llamas and other strange things in his notebook. His books look like they've been used for experiments more than for reading. It almost looks like he's smashed fruit in them before.**

I also made some observations of Ally in my english class. She, unlike Dez and me, seems focused on what the teacher is saying. Her books look well-treated, but definitely used. She's probably an straight A student, and my suspicions are pretty much confirmed when I see the teacher hand back a test with a big 'A+' on it.

I also noted how her eyes light up when she raises her hand to answer a question. She answers questions all the time, but not to be a show-off. I guess learning is just exciting to her. Weird.

Another thing about her is her hair. Does she curl it herself? If so, she should consider styling hair cuz it's beautiful. Each curl is curled to seemingly perfection.

What am I saying? I shouldn't even be thinking about her. She's still my enemy.

Oh who am I kidding? We're not enemies. She wouldn't let me if I tried. She's just too..._nice._ It drives me crazy! That's why I don't like her, I guess. She's a goody-2-shoes, you could say. That and she's boring and lame. And on top of that, she's a Bible reading, church attending lame goody-2-shoes. And you know how they are. She's probably self-righteous and judgemental.

The bell rings and she starts gathering her books when she notices me looking at her. She gives gives me a weird look at first, then flashes a smile. She's probably judging me right now.

It's finally time for lunch, so I make my way over to the cafeteria. I spot Dez waving at me from an empty table at the back of the room, and I groan inwardly.

"_Just this once. They won't notice, just go over there discretely." _I tell myself.

I've just started walking over there when someone grabs my shoulder.

"Where're you going? We're over here." Dallas. He gestures over to the table filled with 'populars.'

"Eh-well, I'm just going to the bathroom. I think maybe that nausea is coming back," I lie. He takes his hand off my shoulder, believing me.

"Okay, see ya," he says, walking away.

Gre_a_t, now I have an excuse for not being there. And maybe if they catch me with Dez I could use it as an excuse somehow. I don't know. Let's just hope they don't find out.

I walk over to the bathroom even though I don't need to go, then come back shortly after, hood over my head. I sit down next to Dez.

"Hey Austin! What's with the hood?" He asks.

"Nothing," I say quickly. He brushes it off.

"Anyway, look at this!" He says, holding out his Zaliens lunch box.

I take it out of his hands, examining it. "This is AWESOME!" I say.

What? Zaliens _are_ awesome. I mean, zombies and aliens combined? Like I said: AWESOME.

"I know right? and check out what's inside," He says, nudging me.

I open the box and when I see it, I squeal and drop it onto the table.

"_I hope no one heard that..."_

_"_It's a zalien's brain! Awesome, right?" He smiles.

I laugh, embarrassed. "What's it made out of?" I ask.

"Jello. Strawberry flavored. Wanna try a bite?" He sticks a spoon in it and rips a chunk out. I take the spoon.

"Okay..." I stick it in my mouth, unsure. It was made by Dez, so who knows.

"Wow, this is good!" I say. It really is.

"Of course it's good! I'm a pretty good cook if I do say so myself," He says, putting his hands behind his head and smiling pridefully.

Suddenly, 2 more lunch bags land on the table infront of us. I thought we were sitting alone.

I look up to see Ally's sparkling eyes and contagious smile, Trish standing next to her.

"Hi Dez! And...," She focuses her eyes one me, trying to see into my hood, "Oh! Austin."

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask more rudely than intended.

"We're eating lunch with Dez, like we always do. What are _you_ doing here? Shouldn't you be with Dallas and them?" She responds, pointing over to my usual table.

"I'm here cuz I want to be. And Dez asked me. I'm not sure I wouldn've agreed if I knew you were here." Ally's face drops slightly.

"Oh, well I'm sorry that my presence offends you." She says angrily, but then sits down across from me, "But I'm not leaving."

"Didn't count on it."

"Good."

Then the table goes silent as Trish sits down across from Dez. I pull out my ham sandwich, and take a bite, feeling awkward.

"So..." Dez starts, "Who's going to be at youth group tomorrow?"

"I'll be there," Trish says, "How about you, Austin?"

"I-uhm"- Ally cuts me off- "He'll be there. We're taking him."

I'm tempted to say something rude about the subject, but I hold it in.

Trish speaks up, "That's cool. Um, Dez, what is that?" She gestures to the brain.

"It's a jello zalien brain! Want some?" Says Dez.

"No thanks," Trish shakes her head.

"So Austin, what's up with you?" Ally asks, smiling again. Why is she talking to me again?

"Nothing." I reply simply.

"Oh c'mon, give us more than that. What are your hobbies? Interests?" She urges.

"Um...I like music, I guess. I play lots of instruments." I don't know why I'm saying anything.

"That's cool, so do I! I love the piano. I even write some music." She does? That's surprising. Proabably not good music. Still, I can't believe we have anything in common.

I smile. I can't help it, her smile is conatgious and I love talking about music. "What kind of music do you like?" I ask.

"Any kind, really. I like anything from rock, to classical, to country." She says, taking a bite of her carrot. Of course she's eating vegatables.

"Same here. I've also tried writing some music, but it never comes out right."

Trish joins in, "Maybe you guys should get together sometimes and write some music." Ally nods.

I laugh slightly, "Yeah," but I don't plan on it. More time with Ally? No thanks.

I spend the rest of lunch laughing and talking with Dez. I already feel like we're best friends. We're could have so much fun together doing crazy things. We already have a special handshake-thing where we bump fists and go "What-UP!"*** I have more fun with him then I do with my other friends.

The rest of the school day is uneventful, but flies by quickly. Once the the final bell rings, I'm desperate to leave. I'm on my way out when I here Dez's voice calling my name. I turn around, smiling. "See you at youth group tomorrow!" he calls outs.

I guess I will.

**End of chapter 3! Please leave your opinion in a review. :) Please no harsh language. Consructive critism is appreciated.**

**It took me a while longer to write this chapter, but not because it was longer. Our computer is having problems, so I wrote most of this on my ipod, which is hard (Sorry if there are any typos). **

*** I know, I already used a Lifehouse song in another fanfic, but they're awesome so...yeah, you should listen to the song.**

**** Remember when Dez and Austin were smashing fruit in things? Haha. What kind of idiot smashes peanuts in their laptop though?**

***** Their signature handshake from the show.**

**Thank you, and God bless!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for your reviews! Sorry it took me a while to update. Like a said before, I've been very busy with graduations (I have 2 older siblings graduating), open houses, birthdays and birthday parties, my homeschool academy showcase (which was awesome!) finishing up school and more. It's been pretty stressful.**

**I hope this chapter is worth the wait. :)**

Chapter 4: _Bad school days, The Dawsons and Youth Group. __(Austin's POV)_

I smile and moan in satisfaction as the warm, syrup covered pancake enters my mouth. How does mom cook them to perfection _every_ time? Whenever I try they either end up burnt or under cooked.

I pick up the giant-sized syrup bottle and begin drenching my already drowning pancakes in the sticky, sweet substance. You can never have too much syrup.

My mom doesn't seem to agree.

"AUSTIN, stop pouring so much syrup! It's not healthy, and it's a waste! I want the syrup to last!" She scolds, taking the bottle from me forcefully.

"It's healthy for my taste buds," I say, taking another big bite.

She just rolls her eyes and starts wiping up the syrup that I spilled on the table. I didn't even notice that I'd done that. Maybe I do eat like a pig, like Cassidy always tell me at lunch. She doesn't say it rudely, though. It's almost…_flirtatious_, the way she says it. I'm pretty sure she likes me. But who doesn't?

I'm not really interested in her, though. She's pretty, but I'm more interested in cheerleaders. Like Kira Starr.

But Kira has a boyfriend. So, I'm single. For now.

I finish up my pancakes and start getting my stuff for school while my mom yells at me for not dealing with my plate.

"_Sorry, but I have more important things to worry about, mother." _I think to myself.

I know I probably shouldn't be having that attitude, but I get so tired of the nagging sometimes.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I yell a quick goodbye and head out the door.

As I'm walking to school, I find a penny on the sidewalk. They say that means good luck.

Maybe today will be my lucky day. Maybe I'll end up not going with the Dawson's.

I put in the penny in my shoe. I'm not superstitious person, but I'll take any help I can get.

But it feels kind of uncomfortable against my foot.

I'll push through it.

_A&A_

Is it just me, or are these classes extra boring today?

I haven't really had a chance to talk to my friends cuz I was kind of late (apparently I'm not only a messy eater, but a slow eater too), and the classes seem to be twice as long.

Did they fix their clocks to go slower? Are they boring us on purpose? I don't think this penny is working.

I look over at Ally. She seems interested in what Mrs. Lavoski, our English teacher, is saying.

"_Nerd…" _I think to myself.

Without turning to face her, I lightly throw a crumpled up piece of paper at her head. I can feel her glaring holes into my skull.

I smile. I can always count on Ally to amuse me.

Mrs. Lavoski must have noticed, cuz she gives me a stern look before continuing to collect homework.

It' only the first week of school and I think she already hates me. I don't have the goodest (**A/N Sorry grammar Nazis, haha) **grammar, but I usually do the homework, even if it's last minute. But when Mrs. Lavoski comes by my desk, I don't have my assignment. And it's not because my dog ate it. I just didn't do it.

And it's not because I forgot. I just didn't feel like doing it.

But hey, it's early on in the year. I just need to get used to this again. I'll be fine.

…

How many days until summer?

_A&A_

When lunch comes around, I'm feeling torn. I want to sit with Dez again. But Ally would probably be there…and I told myself it was a one time thing. I can't make the sick excuse to Dallas again. If I tried to sneak, I'd most likely get caught. I don't want to risk that. But what am I risking, exactly? Losing my friends just because I sat with someone less popular than me?

"_Ugh! Why does keeping a reputation have to be so hard?"_

In the end, I decide to sit with Dallas and the other 'populars,' like I usually would. I can't help but glance over at Dez, Ally and Trish every few seconds. I'm pretty sure Cassidy is talking to me, but I'm only catching bits and pieces of what she's saying.

Dez is flinging jello off his spoon. Ally's throwing her head back in laughter, her curls falling in her face. Meanwhile, I'm over here listening to Dallas flirt with the girl next to him and Cassidy tell me something about some other girl at our school that she apparently doesn't like.

"Austin!" Cassidy breaks into my thoughts, nudging me harshly.

"Wha?" I say barely audibly, turning my head to face her.

"I asked you a question," She says, crossing her arms.

"Oh, sorry. What was it?" I ask, fiddling with the wrapper to my now consumed granola bar.

"Do you like that loser Ally over there, or something?" She asks coldly, gesturing to the table that I've been distracted by all lunch. I'm honestly kind of surprised that she even knows her name.

I laugh, "HA! You're joking, right?" Where did she get that idea?

"It's just that you've been staring at her the whole time I was talking to you. I bet you didn't hear anything I said." She accuses, combing her fingers through her golden blonde hair.

"First, I wasn't staring at _her_. I was just…," I don't want her to know that I was watching them. And if I said I was watching Dez it might make me sound gay. I'm totally straight.

"…dozing off in that general direction. Second, I did hear some. You were talking about some girl you hate or something." I say defensively, finishing my thought. I probably sound like I'm in denial, but I was not staring at her!

"Whatever. I was talking about Kira, and I don't hate her. I was just talking about this rumor that she's going to dump Josh cuz she likes you." She says, rolling her eyes. You can tell by the tone of her voice and the look in her icy blue eyes that she isn't very fond of Kira. That's probably where I picked up the "hate" part from before.

"Really?" I smirk. Maybe I won't be single for much longer. But rumors are rumors. It's probably made up. But if it's true then wow, I must be pretty hott, cuz Josh is the football team's quarterback.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter anyway cuz you don't like Kira, right?" Cassidy says, sounding unsure and desperate for an answer.

I don't really know her that well, but she's hott and popular so I'm all for it. I won't tell Cassidy that though.

I think for a moment, then mumble a quick, "I don't know."

Luckily, the bell rings signaling that lunch is over before Cassidy can say anymore.

I get up and quickly throw away my trash, trying to get out and into my next classroom before Dez or anyone tries to talk to me. I soon realize that I'm too late as I hear Dez and Ally call out my name. I look behind me and see Dez running goofily toward me, and Ally lagging behind because she's trying to stuff something in her bag while playing catch-up.

I put on a smile and Dez and I do our new hand shake real quick. I greet Ally with nothing more than a quiet,"hey," barely even turning to look at her. I don't want her thinking that we're friends.

"Ally was trying to find you," Dez says. She wanted to find me? This can't be good.

I look to her, waiting for an explanation.

She takes a breath, "I was trying to find you because my dad just texted me to tell you that you're coming home with us after school," she says, pulling her bag over her shoulder.

"What?! Why?" I burst out, not caring to hide my displeasure.

"Well, you didn't let me finish. Apparently your mom was trying to contact you because your parent's store is extra busy today and she won't be home 'til late."

"What, she can't handle me being home alone for one day?" I say half to her, half to myself.

She laughs," That and we're taking you to youth group tonight, remember?"

"Mmhmm", I murmur rudely and brush past her and walk through the doors of the cafeteria.

I walk into the classroom and drop my bag next to my desk, slumping into my seat. I lay my head back and rub my temples in frustration. This day is just getting worse. I was so worried about an awkward drive, and now I have to go to her house? I'll probably have to eat dinner with them! That'll probably be the worst part. And where will I be hanging out the whole time? What will I be doing? She'll probably take me to her room and start doing homework or something. I'll probably be dead from boredom before we even make it to youth group. And all this for what? A game or 2 of dodgeball? I don't like dodgeball this much! No, I promised Dez.

He owes me one. Or two.

I slip my right foot out of the shoe slightly, reaching my hand down and pulling the penny out.

Good luck? Yeah right.

I toss it on the floor, and it lands right next to the entrance to the classroom. Right then, Dallas walks in and notices it on the floor. He bends down, picking it up. He examines it for a moment, then looks up at me, smiling widely.

"Hey look, it's a lucky penny, dude!" He laughs, slipping it into his pocket.

I laugh too. But not with him, more _at _him.

_"Good luck, Dallas."_

_A&A_

For the first time ever, I find myself wanting school to last longer. But of course, with my luck, the second half of the day goes by seemingly fast. Maybe thinking so hard about my situation made time go faster.

_"Or maybe God just hates me."_

That is, if He even exists.

I'm the last one out of class. Usually, I'd dart for the door and be one of the first out, but as the bell rang today, I sat in my chair for a minute or so, just staring at the notes on the chalk board.

According to what's written on there, I have paragraph due this week. I'm suddenly very grateful that they write that down, or I wouldn't know. I wasn't paying attention, of course, because I'm distracted by my thoughts.

I've been doing that a lot lately. I haven't had a very good start to this year, so I better get out of this funk before my parents ground me and I have to sneak out the window again. What? Don't tell me you've never tried sneaking out before. Unless you're Ally Dawson, then that'd make sense.

I notice Dallas at the end of the hall, and he waves me over.

"Hey bro," I say, giving him a fist bump.

"Hey man! I finally got the new Call of Duty **(A/N Don't own it) **game! Wanna come over after school and play? I'm so gonna blast your head off!" He says, pretending to shoot me with a gun.

I think this day just did get worse. I'm missing out on Call of Duty! And now I have to make up an excuse as to why I can't.

"Uh, sorry Dallas, but I can't. I have a, uh, I have to clean my room." I make up quickly.

His eye brows scrunch together in confusion, "But isn't your room always clean? I thought you weren't a messy person?"

Time to lie again.

"Yeah but I made a big mess in there the other day when I was, uh, doing homework...?"

He laughs, "Yeah, okay, I'll buy that for now. But you do need to come over and play me sometime soon. This weekend?"

"Sure, and by the way, I'm going to be the one blasting heads," I say, punching his shoulder lightly.

Suddenly, I feel a presence walk up next to me. I can tell by the look on Dallas's face that it's not someone I like.

"Hey Austin," I hear Ally's voice say.

I look down at her and say 'hey' back quickly, panic hitting me out of nowhere. What if she says something about going to her house infront of Dallas?

"My dad just texted me that he's here. Are you ready to go?" I look at Dallas, then Ally, then back at him, trying to think quickly about how I should respond. Before I can, Dallas speaks up.

"Go where?" He asks suspiciously.

"We have to do a project together for...a class," I blurt out nervously.

Knowing Dallas isn't going to buy that, I grab Ally's hand and begin pulling her toward the door.

"Gotta go, see you tomorrow!" I say quickly.

Ally pulls her small hand out of mine after a moment. Then I realize how that might've looked to the other people in the halls.

Two people, guy and girl, running through the hall holding hands.

Crap.

When I turn to look back at Ally, she looks offended.

"I see how it is," She says, folding her arms over her chest and walking ahead of me. She's definitely not happy with me.

Oops.

But why do I care if she hates me? That's what I wanted, right?

I sigh and follow her out the door. The walk out to her Father's car is filled with an awkward, bang-your-head-up-against-the-wall silence, but it doesn't last long. Just before we reach the car, Ally turns to face me.

"Look, I know this is awkward for you, so what would you prefer: sitting up front, or in the back?" She asks. The anger she had before seems almost completely gone.

"Erm, the back I guess," I say, opening the door and sliding into the back seat. I'm surprised that she thought about how I felt in the situation. It's kind of weird. Not that I'm not grateful.

"Hey guys, how was your day?" Her dad asks, looking at me through the mirrors.

"Good," I lie. This has been one of the worst school days I've ever had.

Ally just nods in agreement. I'm pretty sure she wasn't lying like me though. I swear, the girl seems to acually enjoy school.

It's a quick drive to her house, and it turns out she lives very close to me. I could walk to her house. Because it was a short drive, there wasn't really any talking for the rest of the ride.

Mr. Dawson pulls into the driveway and we get out of the car.

Ally gestures for me to follow her as we go through the front door.

The first thing you see in her house is a staircase. To the left, I see a kitchen, and to the right, a small living room with a fairly good sized TV. She sets her bag down next to the stairs, and I do the same. There's a short moment of awkward silence until her dad walks in.

"Do you want anything? Water? Snacks?" he asks me.

"No thanks. Uhm, where's the bathroom?" I ask, unconsciously rubbing the back of my neck.

"Down that hallway to the right. It's the first door. You don't want to walk into the closet!" He laughs, pointing to a small hall to our left.

Little does he know, I've peed in a closet before. Long story. *****

"I'll be up in my room," Ally says just before I walk into the hall.

I actually don't need to use the bathroom, I just thought it'd be nice to get away from the awkwardness for a minute.

It's a pretty small bathroom, but it has a good sized mirror. And by good sized I mean HUGE.

I stand in front of it, just staring at myself and thinking for a while. And if you're wondering what I'm thinking about, it's basically "_What am I gonna do when I come out?_" Ally didn't exactly tell me where her room was. It's obviously up stairs, but what if I accidently walked into her dad's room or something? I consider staying here the whole time for a moment, but quickly brush it off. It would look like I was either hiding or having diarrhea.

After a minute of messing with my hair, I decide it's been too long already. I fix my hair quickly, then slowly start to turn the nob. I peak through, checking the area. Her dad doesn't seem to be around.

Time to find her room.

I make my way over to the steps, tripping on our bags in the process.

"_Smart place to put them, Ally."_

I almost curse when my arm hits railing of the staircase, but I just catch my tongue. If her dad heard me swear...

I ignore the pain and walk up the steps, cringing at the creaking sound it makes. I don't know why I'm so sensitive to making noise right now. For some reason I just don't want Ally to hear me coming up the steps.

When I get to the top, I see that there are four doors. The first is right at the top of the steps, and its creaked open. I can clearly see that it's another bathroom. A bigger one, with a shower an all. There's another door to the left, right next to the half-wall, and 2 doors to the right. One of the doors to the right has a big, gold "A" on it.

Bingo.

I slowly walk over to it, pressing my ear lightly against the door to listen for anything in there. At first, It's silent, but then I hear the faint, soft sound of a piano being played. I don't recognize the song, though. Did she write it? Doubtful. It goes on for a second, then stops abruptly. I hear what sounds like her getting up from her chair. In fear of the possibility of her heading toward the door, I back away quickly. Nothing happens though, so move in again. I hear some papers being ruffled, then silence again. Wait, what if her dad sees me listening through the door? Oh, crap. I'd look like a stalker.

I take a deep breath and finally knock on the door lightly.

After a moment, the door swings open, and Ally stands there, smiling awkwardly. I bet she's wondering what took me so long. Or maybe she's just wondering if I heard her playing piano.

"Uh, come in," She says, moving away from the door.

As I step in, I see a nice keyboard set up next to a window to the left of her bed. That must've been what she was playing. I almost ask her about the song, but end up saying nothing. I end up just sitting on the edge of her bed, gazing over at her.

She walks over and sits down at the seat next to the keyboard, spinning it over to me.

"So...How's school been so far for you?" she asks, obviously trying to break the awkward silence.

Usually I'd give the crappy, "Fine" or "Good" lie, but right now, with her, I feel like being honest.

"It sucks," I say.

"Oh. How so?" She asks, fiddling with a pencil from her desk.

I sigh, "Just everything. I forgot my homework for english, I've been having trouble paying attention in class, and my friends don't feel like friends anymore."

"Did you get in a fight with them?"

"No, I just feel like I'm fighting for them to like me, to accept me. It's feel like if I make one wrong move, they're gone."

"Those aren't real friends," She says quickly, "A real friend will stand by you no matter what."

I smile slightly, "So I've heard. Unfortunately, I haven't found a friend like that yet. I'm starting to wonder if one exists."

We fall into a comfortable silence, both just deep in thought. I unconsciously start staring at her, watching as she wiggles the pencil back in forth in her hand. I notice she's wearing a necklace with a penny on it.

"Where'd you get the necklace?" I ask, laughing slightly at the memory of the un-lucky penny from earlier.

She looks down at it, holding it in her fingers as she rubs her thumb over it.

"My mom gave it to me years ago. Her name was penny," she says, smiling sweetly at the memory.

"Was?" I question stupidly, without thinking it through.

"Oh, um, she died...a few years back. She gave this too me when she first got sick. We knew she didn't have much of a chance and...you know..." She trails off, her voice quiet.

Great Austin, you've brought of a sensitive subject. Now she might start crying. And if she starts crying, I'll start crying. It may not seem like it, but I can be a pretty sensitive guy. I'm not afraid to cry...as long as no one sees.

"I'm sorry," I murmur.

Silence.

"So...what were you playing before I came in?" I ask, getting up and walking over to the keyboard next to her. Hopefully I can change this sad mood with some music.

"Oh I was just...putting something together," She says, now grabbing her hair and chewing on it nervously like she did the first day of school.

I raise my eyebrows at her, wondering what's got her so nervous. It's just a song. It's weird that she chews her hair as a nervous habit, out of all things. I'd usually run my hands through my hair or something, but chewing it? That's weird. It's admittedly cute the way she does it though...

"So, you were writing a song?" I ask.

"Uh...yeah. I thought I'd give it a shot." She says, relaxing a little more.

"Can I hear it?" I ask, reaching to turn the keyboard on. She places her hand on top of mine, stopping me. The shock of the touch startles me.

"No, you can't." She says nervously.

I pull my hand away. "Why not?"

"Because I-I'm just not good with playing in front of other people!" She says, throwing her hands up in the air.

I plop back down onto her bed. "That's lame."

She rolls her eyes and starts playing with her necklace again.

"You're nice," she says.

"Well it's just that, you can write good songs-I'm assuming from what I heard- but you're hiding it. I can't write a song to save my life, but I love performing. It's not fair." I flop backward, my head hitting the pillow of her bed.

There's a few seconds of silence, then I here her mumble, "Sorry..."

I sigh, "What's the song about? You can at least tell me that, right?"

"Just...stuff."

I burst out laughing. "You're really insecure, aren't you?"

She just shrugs.

I sit back up. "Well, you shouldn't be."

We sit there for a moment, looking at each other. Staring. I'm not sure why I would say something like that, but I just felt the need to at the moment. She seems surprised that I said it, too. You'd think I'd make fun of her in some way. Instead, I practically complimented her. I hope she doesn't think I like her or something...

I break the stare, getting up from the bed and walking back over to the keyboard.

"Get up," I say harshly.

"What?" She gapes at me.

"Just do it."

She gets up from the chair, moving to the bed.

I sit down, turning on the keyboard. I play a chord, letting it ring out.

I stop, turning to Ally. "Hand me the paper." I demand.

"What paper?" She asks.

"The one that you were writing music on!" I say, holding my hand out.

"But I," She starts. I give her a look. "Fine," she says, handing me an old, beaten leather book with an "A" on it like her door. I don't think this is the first time she's written a song.

"Only look at the last page, NOT anything else," She warns.

I smile mischievously, "Don't worry, I won't."

I flip to the last page, then place the book up on the keyboard so I can see the music.

I begin playing the melody, Ally watching me closely. It sounds better than I orginally thought. She can definitely write good music.

I look to the page for lyrics, but I see none.

"Where are the words?" I ask, stopping.

"I haven't written them yet." She states.

"It sounds good so far. You shouldn't hide it," I say, starting to play again.

"I dont' want to hide it I just...can't break my stage fright. I've tried." she states.

"Try again." I say, still playing. She nods.

"Have you heard of The Fray?" I randomly ask.

She smiles, "Yeah, I love them."

I smile back and start playing "Syndicate," one of my favorites by them. ******

She smiles more widely as I start singing the lyrics. As I enter the chorus, I'm surprised to hear her quietly start singing along with me. I smile as we sing the song together, and by the time we finish, she's singing louder. Her voice is beautiful, it really is a shame that she has stage fright.

We continue discussing our favorite songs by the Fray and other bands for a while when her dad knocks on the door, stepping in.

"Time for dinner."

_A&A_

We sit around the dinner table, me across from Ally, her dad still plating food. Infront of me, I have some of Mr. Dawson's homemade mac and cheese, with some steak that he apparently cooked on the grill outside. It smells delicious, but I can't eat yet. Ally's dad hasn't sat down, and I'm sure they want to say grace or something. I really hope they don't make me do it.

Mr. Dawson sits down to my right, and to my surprise, starts eating. I guess they don't want to say grace.

"I hope you're not a vegatarian," he laughs.

"but I am," I joke.

He stops laughing and looks at me. I burst out laughing, Ally and her father soon joining.

The dinner wasn't awkward like I feared at all. We ate in comfortable silence, a few jokes here an there. Mr. Dawson is a pretty cool guy.

We finish eating and put our plates and utensils in the dishwasher.

"We should leave in about 5 minutes," Mr. Dawson says, closing the dishwasher.

Wow, time flew.

Ally and I get our shoes on and head to the car. We all sit in the same places as before.

We drive in silence until a Taylor Swift song plays, and Mr. Dawson starts singing and dancing along weirdly, making us laugh. Ally has a pretty weird dad, but hey, my parents are pretty embarrassing too. It's then that I realize that they're not even listening to a Christian radio station. That's weird, maybe they're not the Christian family I thought they were.

Shortly after, we arrive at the church. I can already see some teens hanging out outside the building, some girls running and hugging each other like they haven't seen the other in 10 years. Girls.

We come out at the drop off, Ally saying a quick goodbye to her dad. Before we even reach the doors, Dez comes out and yells my name, causing people to look at us.

"Hey buddy!" he exclaims when he reaches me.

"Hey, dial it down, Dez," I say, feeling embarrassed by the stares.

"Oh, sorry." he whispers, and we walk inside.

When we get in, Ally points me to a desk with a sign up sheet. I fill out the papers as she and Dez greet some people. I hand the sheet in, taking the picture quickly and returning to Dez, who's talking to someone.

"Hey Austin! This is Gary, my small group leader. Gary, this is Austin," He introduces.

"Hey Austin, are you going to be in my small group?" He asks, shaking my hand.

"Yeah, he is!" Dez answers for me. I nod in agreement.

"So, where's the dodgeball?" I ask.

Dez gets excited. "This way! They're about to start." He runs toward a big room, which I'm assuming is the gym.

It is a gym, but it's also a sanctuary, according to the stage at the end of the room. There's music playing loudly from the speakers, and dodge balls being thrown everywhere. I notice Ally standing on the sidelines with Trish, talking to some other girls. I doubt she's going to particapate.

Just then, a tall brunette boy approaches us.

"Hey Dez! Who's your friend?" He asks.

"Hey Elliot! This is Austin."

"Hey Austin, nice to meet you. Are you gonna play?" He says, picking up a dodgeball that rolled toward him.

"I most definitely am!" I say, following Dez and Elliot toward the group of mostly guys that are about to play.

There's a man on the stage with a mic who tells us to split into 2 teams: Freshmen and Sophmores vs. Juniors and Seniors. Dez, Elliot and I are juniors, so we're on the right side, while the other team is on the left. There are a lot of peoplein this game. Good more people to hit. The game starts and Dez runs for a ball, just barely dodgeing a hit as he runs back to safety. I stay back, waiting for someone to throw a a ball at me. One suddenly comes at me fast, but I catch it anyway. Before you know it, there are just a few left. Dez and I finish off the last freshman by throwing a ball at him at the same time. We play a few more games, our team winning most.

Soon everyone's heading to the youth group room, and I follow Dez and Elliot. We end up sitting toward the back. Oncr everyone's in and has a seat, the band starts playing music.

They play a couple up beat songs, and I clap along to the beat when they do. But then they slow it down a little. I'm a little uncomfortable at this point, but I just listen to the music and watch the band until they finish. When they do, we all sit back down and the youth pastor comes up.

He talks a lot about hypocrisy; about judging other people. I honestly don't really pay much attention, though. I spend most of the time messing with my guitar pick necklace. When we finally reach the end, he finishes with a quick prayer. Then we head to small groups.

We head to into a room which looks to be one of the kid's classes, but I guess this is where they meet. We all sit down in a circle on the floor and start talking while the small group leader takes attendance. Once he's done, he begins asking questions from a sheet.

"Ok guys, let's start," he says, then reads out the question, 'What do you think we could to do to be less quick to judge?"

"Ask God to help you see people the way He does, not the way we do," One boy speaks up.

Dez nods, "Yeah, and try to get to know people first before you label them."

"Ugh, labels are horrible!" Elliot exclaims.

"Ok, next question," Gary says, "Have you ever felt unfairly judged?"

Everyone nods.

"Everyone assumes I'm some sheltered, anti-social freak just because I'm homeschooled," Elliot says, frustrated. Wow, he's homeschooled? *******

"Yeah and everyone thinks I'm some dumb, crazy person when they meet me. Maybe I am a little crazy, but I'm not stupid," he says. I laugh and nod in agreement. He is pretty crazy, but he's pretty smart once you get to know him.

"Anyone else?" Gary asks.

I'm tempted to say something, but I stay silent.

"Ok, any prayer requests before we leave?"

One boy, apparently named Steven, asks Gary to pray about his sick Grandma, and Dez has a request about his pet Parrot Billy Bob Joe not eating. The name doesn't surprise me at all.

He says a quick prayer, then we all get up and leave the room.

When we get out, Dez and I meet with Ally at the doors.

"Hey, how was small group?" She asks, smiling.

"It was...good," I say. It definitely wasn't bad.

"Great! I know you probably want to hang around, but my dad's already and I don't want to keep him waiting so..." she trails off.

"Ok, then let's go!" I say, walking out the door.

We find Mr. Dawson's car out at the pick up and get in, riding silently home. It's been a long day, so I lay my head back and close my eyes.

Soon, they're dropping me off at home so I say a quick thank you and goodbye and walk to the front door. My parents left the door unlocked, so I walk right in.

"Hey Austin, how was youth group?" My mom asks me as I walk in.

"Good," I say flatly, "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she replies as I hobble up the steps.

When I get into my room, I throw on my PJ's quickly and jump into bed in exhaustion. Today started out really bad, but I think it ended pretty well.

I'm glad I ditched the penny.

**That's chapter 4! Review and tell me what you thought. :) I want to say really quickly that the Dawsons not saying grace or listening to a Christian station has nothing to do with how I think a Christian should be. I say grace before I eat, and I always listen to Christian radio (my fav is Air1radio :D). You'll see why they don't later on.**

*** Remember from the show? Haha**

**** I don't own this awesome song by The Fray, nor do I own The Fray.**

***** I'm homeschooled :)**

**A quick IMPORTANT NOTE:**

**SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE SAEED! please? (They won't let me post the link, so please search **

**Iran is violating international human rights laws by imprisoning Pastor Saeed – a U.S. citizen – in one of the worst prisons there for his faith and withholding critical medical care (It has been reported that he's had internal bleeding from his beatings but, despite this, has smiled at and been kind to his abusers. Wow). Please sign the petition to help save him. They've almost hit 600k signatures.**

**Also, please pray for him.**


	5. Head Shots and Histories

**Hey guys! Before I start, I just wanted to say that MY SISTER'S GETTING MARRIED! :D She'll be the first of my siblings. I'll tell you guys a cute story about them at the end. I'M SO EXCITED I'VE NEVER BEEN TO A WEDDING I COULD BE AN AUNT! WHAT?**

**Also, please pray for my parents. They've been fighting a lot lately, and they almost got a divorce a while back. :(**

**Thank you for reading this story and reviewing (Also for being patient. I know this update took a while. Sorry! Still pretty busy. The computer was just fixed but it's always being used. :/) ! You guys are awesome. God bless you all.**

**Chapter 5: **

It's Friday already. This week went by fast. I hope the weekend goes by slower. I'm probably going to go to church again on Sunday, but I don't really mind so much. It wasn't so bad before, plus I can hangout with Dez and eat donuts.

I hum a melody to myself as I walk out of the school, thinking about this past week. The last 2 days have been regular school days. I still haven't sat with Dez yet, but I guess it's fine because he hasn't said anything about it yet. I've been doing better in my classes. I think I got at least 70% of what the teacher was saying this time. I haven't talked to Ally much at all, except for her occasionally saying hi to me in the hall. I don't usually give her more than a mumble back.

The thought of Ally brings me back to youth group Wednesday night. It got me thinking about the whole "labels" thing, and how I tend to label others. It made me realize how judge mental I can be. I assumed Ally was some sort of a self-righteous, 'perfect' Christian and a boring nerd. But now that I've been to her house and gotten to know her more, I think I may have judged her too harshly. While she is an A student and a Christian, she loves music like me and she just really isn't as bad as I thought. When I first saw Dez, admittedly, I assumed he was a geek that played pokemon or was in the chess club or something. And the worst part is, I thought that only because of his ginger/red hair. Ridiculous, right? Well, now I know that he's actually a lot like me, except he's a little more...wild. I consider him a good friend.

I also notice how I've kind of given myself a label.

'Popular.'

And I've gotten so afraid of losing this label. This reputation. I couldn't possibly step out of the status quo and hang out with Dez, or Ally or anyone labeled less than 'popular.' The geeks sit with the geeks, the jocks with the jocks, the populars with the populars and so on. The jocks are kind of populars too but whatever. That's an exception.

Lately, I've been getting so tired of the 'popular' label. Everyone I hang out with is looking to impress, to please everyone else with how they dress, who they hang out with, and/or what they accomplish. It's all one giant game, and I've been one of the top players. But I've become so addicted to this game, and I'm afraid to hit the 'off' button.

I hear foot steps running up behind me and I turn around to find Ally struggling to run in her wedges to catch up to me.

I smile and laugh at the sight.

I slow down my pace a bit as she comes up beside me.

"Hello Allyson, what is up?" I ask in a silly British accent, still trying not to laugh as she catches her breath.

She looks up at me with an annoyed expression, "First of all, don't call me Allyson. Second, that's a horrible fake accent, "She laughs, "And third, I wanted to ask, are you walking home?"

"Yup, I walk home almost every day. It's not very far, so it's fine," I say, moving some of my blonde hair out of my eyes. I really need to get it cut.

"Oh, well I walk home sometimes too. Today I'm actually heading to sonic boom to work my shift," She states.

"I just realized, that store opened up recently and I don't remember seeing you before this year. Did you here recently?" I ask.

She nods, "Yeah, I moved here from Pembroke Pines. My dad had bought the store."

"It's an awesome store!" I say, smiling.

She smiles back up at me, "Thanks."

We walk together in a comfortable silence. Just as we're apart to go our separate ways, I speak up.

"Hey, do you mind if I go to Sonic Boom with you? I've kind of been wanting to get a strap lock for my guitar."

She just smiles and nods as we begin walking together again. After a minute or so, my phone starts buzzing. It's Dallas.

We continue to walk together as I read the text.

From: Dallas To: Austin

"_Hey bro. You up 4 some Call of Duty tonight at 7? No lame excuses."_

I should probably focus on catching up on my homework, but I can't wait to crush Dallas in that game. I decide to agree.

From: Austin To: Dallas

_"Sure. But don't cry when I beat u. :P"_

After it's finished sending, I turn off my phone. I want to make sure I'm watching where I'm going and not getting distracted by my phone.

Ally looks over at me when I put my phone in my pocket.

"Who ya texting?" She asks teasingly. She must think I'm texting some girl.

"Just Dallas," I reply.

Her facial expression changes from a playful look to one of disgust.

"Oh...him." She murmurs.

Apparently, Ally and Dallas aren't exactly fond of each other. It seems whenever they're around each other, they're giving out nasty looks. Especially Dallas, like on Wednesday when she came to say we were leaving. I'm curious about the history, but I decide to keep my mouth shut. Instead, I bring up something she said earlier.

"So, If I can't call you Allyson, what can I call you? Ally-gator?" I joke.

She laughs, "Um, no."

"Ally-cat?"

"Only my dad calls me that."

"Okay, I give up...Allyson." She punches me in the arm lightly and we laugh as we near the Mall of Miami.

_A&A_

When we reach Sonic Boom, I see that it's crowded. Ally hardly looks fazed, though. she walks into there and gets to work immediately. Quickly answering questions, directing people to what they're looking for - even giving a guy directions to the eye doctor! Before you know it, things are calming down and she seems to be in control. I'm watching her give an elderly lady change when I realize that I'm supposed to be looking for a strap lock, not staring at Ally!

I re-focus my attention to the store and start looking around. Guitar straps, guitar strings, guitar method books...Strap locks!

I scan over the different kinds but I'm not sure which is best for my guitar. Maybe I could ask Ally? I mean, she does work here. But how much does she know about guitars?

I look over at her. She's writing something in that book of hers again. I smile and walk up next to her, leaning on the counter. I slowly begin to lean over, attempting to peer into her book when she snaps it closed and looks up at me, annoyed.

"I thought you were here to buy something, not spy on me," She accuses.

I laugh, "Yeah, I actually wanted to ask you about that."

"Oh," she says as she makes her way over to where the strap locks are. She looks them over for a moment before turning to me.

"What kind of guitar?" She asks.

"An SG. Gibson." I say, smiling. Gibson guitars are the coolest.

"Ah, nice," She picks a certain brand off it's hook and hands it to me, "This should be good."

We walk back to the counter where I pay for the strap lock. I'm so glad to finally be getting one. My strap always breaks mid-play! I shouldn't have to worry about that now. If the lock doesn't fit, though, I'm making sure Ally gets me a new one.

"...and here's you change," She says, handing it to me with the receipt, "Have a nice day!"

"Thank you, I will," I say, sticking the money in my pocket. We stand there for a moment, smiling and saying nothing.

"Uhm, I guess I'll be leaving now," I say quickly, turning to leave. Before I make it out the door, she calls out my name.

I turn around to look at her, waiting for her to say something. Did I leave my phone again?

"Will I see you this Sunday?" She asks.

I'm surprised at the smile that seems to inch its way up my face. I nod, sure that my parents would make me even if I refused.

I then walk right into the door. Literally, my face smacked the glass. Why didn't it open? I keep pushing, trying to force it to budge. What's wrong with this door?

I hear a voice laughing loudly behind me. It's Ally's.

"What are you laughing at? This door's broken!" I yell, looking back at her.

She calms down her laughing enough to speak, "It's a pull!"

I feel my face go red with embarrassment. Wow, I must look like such a fool. Of course it's a pull!

"_Stupid, stupid, stupid!"_

I pull lightly, and door starts to open.

"Hey, don't laugh at Austin Moon. I _totally_ knew that, I just...thought it'd be funny!" I defend myself.

She laughs again, "Don't worry, Austin, I did that once too. When we first opened the store." She walks toward me.

"Really?" I ask, laughing slightly.

"Yeah, except I figured it out faster than _that,_" she teases.

I laugh and shake my head, pulling the door open to leave. "See you later Allyson."

She glares at me, "It's _Ally!" _she insists, but I'm already out the door.

As I get farther away from the store, I realize that I'm pretty hungry. I decide to stop by Mini's for a quick snack before heading home. As I walk there, I pull out my phone to check the time, using my other hand to jingle the coins in my pocket. It reads 5:30.

"_It's past 5 already? I got to get home." _I think to myself. Time went fast today. I hurry and order a mini pizza at Mini's, but as I turn to leave I spot a certain ginger named Dez. Why do I keep running into people today? I sigh as he smiles and waves at me, asking me to come over. It's not that I don't like him, it's just that this isn't good timing. I need to get my homework done before 7 if I want to play Call of Duty or I'll be in huge trouble. And my parents are probably wondering where I am. And he might ask me to sit with him at lunch.

I put on a smile as I sit down next to him, setting down my pizza.

"Hey Dez, what's going on?"

He's smiling so wide that it looks painful. "What's going on is the new ZALIENS movie premiering tonight! I'M SO PUMPED!" He's practically jumping up in down in his seat.

"You mean Zalien's 8 My Brains? I forgot about that! Darn! Are you going to see it tonight?" I ask.

His smiles drops to a frown, "No, my mom won't let me be up that late. But Me, Trish and Ally are going to see it Sunday after Church! You wanna join?" He asks, smiling again.

I can't help but laugh at how Dez acts (and is treated like) a little kid. His energy is what makes him so much fun to be around, though.

"I'd love to! But right now I have to get home," I say, picking up my pizza. I hate to leave him here alone, but I can't hang around.

He stands up with me, "Ok Austin, I hope to see you then! Don't forget an awesome Zaliens costume!" He pats me on the back.

"Sure..." I say, waving goodbye. I'm NOT dressing like an alien zombie in public. I wonder if Ally will? If she does, I'm definitely getting a picture. She doesn't seem like one to like Zaliens thought. She's probably only going to hang out with Trish (or because Trish is making her. That girl can be intimidating).

I take a bite out of my mini pizza, then close up the box to save for later. It'll be cold, and microwave pizza is gross, but whatever.

I walk out of the mall, slowly moving into a fast walk.

Then I get a text from my dad.

_"Where are u?!"_

I break into a run.

_A&A_

When I get home, I say a quick 'sorry' to my parents, quickly explaining how I lost track of time, then run up the steps to my room. Time to get started on homework.

_*15 minutes later*_

"Ugh! Why am I using letters anyway? That's for the alphabet, not math!" I yell out loud, slamming my pencil down in frustration. "_I really wish Chemistry didn't have so math involved." _I think. I close my eyes for a minute, allowing myself to relax. Then, I give the equation one last shot, giving my best answer.

"There! Done!" I slam the book closed, jumping up in a happy dance. Now for Call of Duty. I look to my clock to see that it's 6:45! I text Dallas quickly telling him that I might be late to his virtual beating.

Sadly, I don't have my license yet, but I have my permit so I need to have a parent with me. If only his house was close enough to walk to. I find my mom in her room.

"Hey mom, I need to go to Dallas's place. Can I drive?" I ask.

She thinks about it for a moment, "I guess so. But please, no loud music while driving!" she says as we head to the foyer.

"Fine, no music, " I wine. What's driving without loud, blasted music?

"Why do you need to go to his house anyway?" she asks suddenly before opening the front door.

Oh yeah. I didn't tell her.

"To play Call of Duty..." I say quietly. She gives me a look. "Please?" I plead.

She sighs, "I guess it's fine."

I fist pump.

"But just this once," She says as she opens the door and walks outside.

"_That sucks."_

I follow her out and she tosses me the keys as I get in. It feels good to drive. It makes you feel...grown up, I guess. But at the same time, I don't want to be grown-up. Basically, I want to be treated like a grown-up and reap the benefits, but I don't want the responsibilities. Life.

I turn on the engine and start backing out of the driveway.

"Click it or ticket!" my mom yells, pointing to my seat belt. Right, almost forgot. I get the seat belt on and turn on the radio.

"How about some quiet music?" I ask, turning toward my mom. I can't drive in silence, and I'd rather not chat with my mom. I plead with my eyes.

She sighs and nods as we continue driving with music playing softly.

_A&A_

When I pull into the driveway, I jump out of the car almost immediately, but my mom calls me back.

"What?" I ask, walking back over.

"I'll be back here at 9 to pick you up. Text me if you have to go earlier!" she informs as she moves to the drivers seat.

I nod quickly and turn around to see Dallas already opening up the front door. He notices my mom pulling out as I make my way to the porch.

"You don't have your license yet?" He chuckles, giving me a quick bro hug.

"No! I haven't been able to take the road test. I will soon though! I'm already saving for a car," I say, inviting myself into his house.

"You better get it soon. It looks pretty lame driving around with your mom all the time," he teases.

I shake my head and laugh, "Whatever. Are we gonna play Call of Duty or what?"

He opens the door to the basement where I'm assuming the xbox is, "Oh yes, but the question is: are you ready?"

I move down the steps, him following.

"You bet I am. Are _you _ready for me to shoot your head off?"

He laughs, running ahead of me to turn the game on. He's got an AWESOME T.V.! Why haven't been here until now? I hope this isn't the last time he invites me to play.

"We'll see who's going to shoot whose head off," He says, handing me a controller.

He signs in and the game starts. Man, I can't wait to play this game. I heard it's really bloody. And who doesn't love a good, bloody war game?

We join a group game and Dallas laughs evilly as it shows us on opposite teams.

"_I am SO going to destroy him."  
_

**_A few rounds later..._**

"No fair! This is only my first time playing!" I whine as Dallas kills me again. I didn't even see him! Darn those sniper guns.

He laughs, "Even if it was your 500th time playing, I'd still own you."

"Just wait 'til I figure out all of the controls. Oh, just wait, Dallas," I say, smiling evilly.

He chuckles and shakes his head as he chooses our next destination, "Whatever man."

The loading screen comes up and I start to plan my strategy when Dallas speaks up again.

"So...what's with you hanging with Ally lately?" He asks suspiciously.

I give him a weird look. What makes him think that I've been hanging with Ally? Gosh, he sees me with her ONE stinking time!

"Um, I haven't been 'hanging' with her," I say a bit more angrily than intended.

"Oh really?" he smirks, "Then why did you go home with the freak a few days ago? I know it wasn't a project. I'm not an idiot." I'm taken back for a second by the way he calls Ally a freak. he definitely doesn't like her. I'm now determined to find out if they have a history before I leave...right after I finish defending myself...

"Ok, fine, it wasn't a project. But I wasn't hanging out with her! Her dad was just driving me somewhere. It wasn't my choice!" I exclaim, shaking the controller in my hand for emphasis.

He crosses his arms, "Okay, then what about when you ate lunch with her when you were supposes to be 'sick'," The look he gives me makes me want to slap him. How did he even notice?

My jaw drops in shock for a moment before I compose myself, "I wasn't sitting with her," I mumble.

"I saw yo-"

"It was Dez. He asked me and I promised. He's a cool dude." I say quickly, interrupting him.

"But Ally was across from you," He points out.

I sigh, "Yeah, apparently Dez usually sits with her."

Dallas notices the game started and pauses before turning back to me.

"He must not really be that 'cool' then," he laughs, "Don't bring him to our table."

I open my mouth to defend Dez, but then I decide to turn the tables on him just as he was about to un-pause.

"What happened between you and Ally?"

He freezes.

I swallow.

"_What is he g-" _My thought gets interrupted.

"Did she tell you?!" He sounds like he could kill.

He turns to look at me and I throw my hands up in defense. He can be pretty scary when he's angry.

"No-no! I just figured that something must have happened cuz of the way you act when she comes up," I explain.

There's a moment of silence.

"I just don't like her, ok?" He says rudely.

Without really thinking, I continue to persist.

"Why? I won't say a word to anyone."

His turn to sigh in annoyance.

"You better not."

"I won't." I assure.

He turns to face me fully, "Well, we were friends in junior high-" I cut him off.

"You've known her that long?" He gives me a look saying "_Shut up and let me finish" _so I mumble "sorry" and lock my lips with a pretend key.

"Anyway, back then I, uh, had a crush on her," I hold in a laugh as he continues, "So come 8th grade, I knew I was going to move down here soon, so I planned to ask her to be my girlfriend before then."

"Did she break up with you and crush your soul? Oh! Worse, did she cheat on you?" I intersect.

He laughs sadly, "I didn't even get that far."

"_That sucks," _I think to myself before he goes on.

"I asked her in front of the whole 8th grade. I thought for sure she'd say yes."

I laugh, "So she was like, 'Ew, NO loser' and left you?"

He glares, "No, she said that she was 'too young to date, sorry' and walked away with everyone laughing at me," he shakes his head, "How lame. I stopped talking to her until I moved."

"Wow," I nod taking it in.

"The worst part is," he starts again, "When she first saw me here, she started talking to me like we were friends. I told her to back off. This time, she's the one being humiliated." He says victoriously.

Honestly, this whole thing seems pretty ridiculous and immature to me, but I decide to lay off. It's none of my business anyway. Still, I can't help but think Ally doesn't deserve any of that. It's not like she dumped him rudely, she probably just wasn't allowed to date. She didn't blow him off either-she tried to stay friends. Whatever. I don't care, so I'm not going to think about it.

We get off the subject and continue playing until the door bell rings. I thank Dallas for inviting me over and promise my revenge. I need to get that game so I can practice, because honestly, he did own me. Either he's really good at that game, or just plain suck. I prefer the first option.

When we get upstairs, my mom is chatting with his. I try to, as nicely as possible, rush her out the door before she embarrasses me. She always manages to do that.

This time, she drives and I relax in the passenger seat, thinking more about the story Dallas told me. It's kind of interesting to think that she was friends with Dallas before. Come to think of it, I'd kind of like to hear her side of the story.

But tomorrow is Saturday and I'd like to catch up on my cartoons, so maybe Sunday at Church I can ask. I'm probably going to be there whether I want to or not.

That reminds me about the movie we're going to see. I ask my mom about it and she says it's fine. But I'm still not dressing up.

...At least not until I get to the theater.

**Finished! I'm honestly not sure if this chapter was any good. Please leave your comments in the review box! I LOVE to hear your opinions. **

**Ok, now for the 'story.' I just wanted to say that my sister and her fiancé (3) remind me a lot of Auslly/raura because they were best friends for about 2 years and in DENIAL. She kept insisting they were JUST close friends but everyone thought they were dating. My mom kept asking her though, "Are you sure? Are you sure?" Until finally, about a year 1/2 ago, they got together! And now they're getting married already! And he proposed when they were in Prague! C U T E. **

**Thank you again for reading! :D Also, don't be afraid to point out any mistakes. **


	6. Stupid Arguments and Saturday Cartoons

**Wow**,** time flew by fast. It's been over a month, hasn't it? I'm sorry. I've been busy, as usual, and the computer I'd usually use isn't working. The computer I'm using right now is rarely available and honestly, I've been kind of scared to start writing (like always) because I'm afraid it won't come out right and I'll disappoint. Anyway, I'm sorry and I'll try to be faster with the next update. Thank you** **to everyone who prayed, and to everyone reading and reviewing. It is very much appreciated. :D Constructive criticism is welcomed.**

**Oh and don't worry, I'm not having writers block. I have a lot planned out, I'm just not confident in it I guess. But here you go.**

**Chapter 6:**

"UGH! Stupid mouse! For once can the cat just win?!" I toss a couch pillow across the room in anger at the television.

Ah, Saturday morning cartoons. They're so wonderful, but so frustrating at times. I just want Tom to win for once! Is that too much to ask?

Maybe I'm being ridiculous. I mean, I'm getting all upset over an old cartoon-I'm even _throwing _things.**(1)** But c'mon, don't we all have that TV show(s) that makes us want to punch a hole through the wall?

I hear beeping from the microwave in the kitchen and hop off the couch.

"Microwave popcorn, so bad for you but yet, so easy and delicious," I say aloud to no one in particular as I pull out the bag of popcorn. The last kernels pop, then I start to pull it open.

"_OoOoOwWwW!" _I exclaim as I feel the heat sting my fingers. Stupid me, of course it's too hot. I blow over the top a few times before opening it up and pouring the hot, fresh popcorn into a bowl.

I smile in satisfaction with my prepared lunch and head back over to the couch, lazily plopping back onto it and setting my eyes on the TV as the next cartoon starts. More Tom and Jerry? (**A/N Don't own that...) **No thanks, this show is seriously stressing me. I flip the channel to the Cartoon Network.

"You know, sometimes I have to remind myself that my son is a High School student and not elementary," I hear my mom's laughing voice from the kitchen, "Is this really how you're going to spend your Saturday?"

I sit and stick some more popcorn in my mouth, taking a moment to savor the buttery taste, "No, not _all_ of my day!" I respond, swallowing quickly before speaking. You don't want to talk infront of my mom with food in your mouth unless you want a lecture about manners.

She rolls her eyes then sets down on the couch next to me with a book-a romance novel by the looks of it. I laugh slightly. Moms.

We sit there silently for a while, then my mom speaks up, "Your friend called a little while ago."

I look at her with a confused look, "He did? I didn't hear," I question.

She laughs and gestures to the TV. Well, I did have to volume up pretty high...

"Which friend?" I ask.

She gives me a blank expression. "Uh...I think his name started with a 'd'," she says, setting her book down.

"Mom, I have more than one friend who starts with a 'd.'" It must be either Dallas or Dez. I'm kind of hoping that it's Dez, though.

"Okay..." Mom grabs her book and stands up, moving toward her bedroom. Before turning her back, she smiles at me and says, "The weird one."

Yup, definitely Dez.

_(Hey NeedToBreathe is a pretty cool band and this is a line break btw k bye)_

I get my cell phone to call Dez, but not before my mom scolds me and forces me to eat a banana. Apparently popcorn doesn't count as a meal.

It's weird that he didn't call my cell phone. I must've given him my home phone when we exchanged numbers a while back. I have done that before...I really need to start remembering the difference. Memorizing things has never really been something I'm good at, though.

I call him back and he answers after two rings.

"Hey Austin!" His excited voice bursts through the line.

"Hey Dez, I heard you called earlier. What's up?" I ask, trying to return his enthusiasm. But it's kind of hard when your Saturday morning cartoons have been interrupted.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to come over and watching some Saturday cartoons with me. They're having a Tom and Jerry marathon on Boomerang!" He practically squeals.

You see, this is why we already have a special hand shake.

"Uhm, YES. I'll be right over!" I exclaim. Saturday cartoons just got that much better. And to think that I thought it was ruined.

_"It sure is great to finally have a friend that I can do ridiculous, childlike things with," _I think.

"Great! See ya," with that, he hangs up.

I slip the phone into my pocket and grab my keys. I'm about to tell my mom about my plans when it hits me.

I call Dez back up.

"Yeah Austin?" He answers almost immediately.

"Hey, uh...where do you live, exactly?"

_( I got tickets to see Switchfoot in October front row I can't breathe)_

After getting information from Dez about his location, I tell my mom I'm hanging out with Dez and hop into my car. It's a fairly short drive to his place. I hum to some music on the radio as I turn into his neighborhood. He's one of the first houses on the left, so it doesn't take long to find. I park and get out of the car, taking in all the different flowers around his porch as I approach the door. It's clear that they love flowers...a LOT.

I ring the door bell, which is immediately responded by a dog's loud barking. I hear some stomping and what sounds like something falling over before Dez appears at the door.

"Sorry about that. My dog is crazy," He says, flipping his ginger bangs out of his face. It looks like he just wrestled the darn thing.

"It's okay, bro," I say, taking a step inside. I can now see the dog in its cage with a muzzle on. I stare at it for a moment in disbelief. It's a _Chihuahua!_ How the heck was its bark so big? It really is crazy!

I try to stop thinking about it as Dez leads me into his basement. Wow, he has an AWESOME TV!**(2)**

He points to a table with some snacks on it, "I have some chips there, and I made a couple peanut butter pickle sandwiches!" He says, picking up one of them and taking a huge bite.

"Peanut butter pickle?" I question. That sounds like a gross combination.

"Oh yeah, they're great! Ally invented them. She'd usually add popcorn, but that's a bit strange for me," he tells me.(3)

Ally invented it? I thought she was weird, but not like that.

"Really?" I ask, examining the odd sandwich.

He just nods, unable to speak with all that peanut butter and...pickles in his mouth. When he swallows finally, he points at the sandwich in my hand and says, "Try it!"

I look down at the messy sandwich in my hand, then back up at him. I guess I could take one bite, I mean, you never know...maybe it's good. And it's not like I haven't eaten weird things...I eat bagels with peanut butter and eggs with ketchup and such. I grab a soda nearby for rinsing just in case, then take a good bite of the sandwich.

It's gooey, it's pickle-y...It's actually not bad! I smile and give Dez a thumbs up, which he returns.

"Now for the cartoons!" He announces, jumping up and grabbing the remote. He turns on the TV and settle on the couch with our snacks as we watch the Tom and Jerry Marathon. Not long into the first episode, the cat runs right into the walls gets his face flattened (ah, classic cartoons). Dez cheers as he stuffs a handful of potato chips in his mouth. As you're probably expecting, I asked him why he was cheering.

"Cuz I hate the cat! Go Jerry!"He cheers, pumping his fist once.

Okay, so Dez and I disagree on some things.

"Um, no, more like 'go Tom.' The cat deserves to win sometimes! I mean, he's only doing his job," I argue.

He gets defensive, "Well, Jerry just wants some cheese! Is that too much to ask?"

"Are you kidding me?!" I half shout, standing up. He stands up swiftly, now standing right in front of me.

"You bet I am!" He yells angrily. I look at him weird for a moment before his mom bursts in, interrupting our 'argument.'

She stands next to the door, giving us a strange (but intimidating) glare. His mom looks a lot like him- ginger hair, and a goofy look on the face (no offence to Dez). She has more freckles, though, and she's sporting some big old-school style glasses. On top of that, she's fairly short while Dez is tall.

"Dez, you promised no yelling this time!" She scolds.

"I'm sorry mom, I promise we'll be quiet. And I told you, that was Trish, not me!" Dez pleads as if she's going to throw him in the dungeon.

_"Trish was at his house?" _I think to myself. They're friends but...They don't really get along so well. I can imagine how irritating it must be when she is here. And I may not know Trish that well yet, but I've seen enough between them to easily be able to believe Dez's testimony here.

"It's okay Dezy-poo, I just hate it when I get interrupted from my favorite tv show, Crime and Judgement!" I hold in a chuckle when she says, "dezy-poo."

"What? you're watching it without me?!" Dez pouts and crosses his arms.

She puts her hand on his shoulder tenderly, "Oh, I'm sorry Dez, I thought you wouldn't mind since you're watching your favorite cartoon with you friend. I promise we can watch it later!"

Dez perks up, "Okay!" He hugs his tiny ginger mother.

"Okay, I'll leave you alone now. Have fun! I love, love, LOVE you!" She squeezes and kisses his cheek with each "love," then ruffles his hair and boops his nose before going back upstairs.

This explains so much.

Dez turns back to me as if nothing happened. Suddenly, I remember how we were yelling about a cartoon before his mom arrived. I laugh.

"Well, I guess we've now officially had our first stupid fight," I say as he joins me in laughter.

He suddenly stops. "Wait, what stupid fight?"

I stop laughing and give him a weird look, "The fight we just had...about a cartoon..." I say, starting to laugh again.

He glares, "That wasn't stupid! I was simply defending my choice to cheer on Jerry!" He says, picking up the bowl of potato chips and sticking some in his mouth.

"Whatever, man," I say, smiling and shaking my head slightly, "Let's just forget about it."

We both sit back down on the couch as the next show starts. Road Runner (**A/N also don't own that).**

"Great, another show involving a predator chasing a prey," I laugh, finishing off my PB/pickle sandwich.

"Those are the best kind!" Dez shouts, mouth full of food. I give him a gross look.

"I feel like my mom saying this but, could you swallow first?" I say, wiping the nonexistent spit off my face.

And ironically, he says "okay, sorry" without waiting to swallow. I shake my head again, returning my attention to the television. We both laugh out loud as Wile E. Coyote gets smashed by a safe as the Road Runner speeds off yelling, "Meep, meep!" again. The TV suddenly goes to commercial break, and the trailer for the new Zaliens movie comes up.

Dez smiles at me, "Oh, that reminds me! Are you coming to the movie tomorrow?" he nudges me, smirking, "Ally's gonna be there."

"I am, but what do you mean by 'Ally's gonna be there?'" I pause before answering, suddenly getting angry, annoyed, defensive, and surprised all at once. I give him a threatening look. Apparently he senses the threat, because I can see the fear appear in his eyes.

"Oh, nothing!" He stands up, "But just wait 'til you see the costume I got you to wear!" He walks to the other end of the room and starts opening up a closet door as I stand up quickly and follow.

"You got me a costume?" I ask, trying to hide my annoyance. I'd decided this morning that I wouldn't risk dressing up, and now he _bought_ me an outfit? How could I say no now?

He doesn't answer, rather he pulls out a big, swamp monster costume and holds it out, smiling widely.

I reach out and touch it. The seaweed feels real! _Awesome!_

"This is sweet but, do you really think I should wear it? I mean, it'd be one thing if it were like a horror movie convention or something, but it's not. We'll be in public!"

He plops the whole thing into my arms, "That's the point! Why should you wear it if others can't see it's awesomeness?!" He reaches back into the closet, "Plus you kind of have to wear it, otherwise I'd look ridiculous going in with you while wearing _this,_" He shows off a full Zaliens costume, "I'm gonna have the makeup and everything!" He squeals.

I can't help but smile. "Okay, fine. I'll wear it, but not until we get there, " I shove it back into his arms, "I'll be changing in the bathroom. You bring it."

He pumps his fist, "DEAL!"

(_my dad is watching baseball right now)_

"AUSTIN, AUSTIN WAKE UP WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR CHURCH!"

I wake up to Dez shaking me violently. Suddenly a light flicks on and I'm blinded for a moment.

"DUDE!" I yell, ducking back under my blanket, "That is NOT how you wake someone up!"

He stomps back over and rips the blanket away from me.

"It is when you're GONNA BE LATE FOR CHURCH!"

I suddenly realize what he's saying and dart up.

"What time is it?" I ask.

He's already throwing off his shirt as he locks himself in the closet to change.

"We got 20 minutes!" He yells from inside.

What?! We must slept in late because we stayed up 'til like, 3am last night just playing video games. Oh, and incase you haven't caught on yet, I ended up sleeping over Dez's house. His mom is driving us to church. Why didn't she wake us?

That's when I notice the music - Is that opera? - blaring upstairs. It sounds like someone is stomping around.

"Hey Dez, I'm just going to change in the bathroom upstairs, okay?" I yell over to him. I hear a calamity inside the closet as he yells back 'okay' and something about demon suspenders.

I carefully make my way up the steps and creak the door open. I'm not really sure what to expect...

Suddenly Dez's mom slides by, humming to the loud music and dancing around crazily as she puts waffles on some plates in the kitchen. She doesn't even notice me as I go into the bathroom.

"_It's really weird that that didn't wake us up - it's like she's having a party up here!" _I think to myself as I quickly get dressed and fix up my hair a bit. It really doesn't much fixing though. It looks cute, messy or not. The girls love it.

I walk out of the bathroom as Dez emerges from the basement. His hair is a mess.

"_The messy look doesn't quite work on him like it does with me..."_

"Are you okay?" I ask.

"No, my suspenders attacked me! I'm going to have to wear 'em down today," He says, then he notices the waffles, "YAY!" He exclaims like a 5 years old, running into the kitchen. I follow.

"Waffles aren't _nearly_ as good as pancakes," I say, sitting down next to him. You're probably thinking, "_Really? Another stupid argument?" _But this one is different. Pancakes are _the _greatest breakfast meal ever created.

"Nooo, waffles are much better. They're shaped perfectly, with little pockets for the syrup!" Dez shoots back, pointing out the "pockets" as he drowns them in syrup.

I grab a bottle of blueberry syrup to my right and begin dousing my waffle as I respond, "Yeah, but pancakes have better texture _and_ flavor," I say triumphantly. Texture and flavor beats shape any day.

Dez opens his mouth to defend his love for waffles when his mom enters with a loud greeting of, "Good Morning! You guys better eat up fast or we're going to be late! I guess Dez didn't wake up to his alarm clock today."

Being reminded about how little time we have, I stick a huge bite of my waffles in my mouth, chewing it fast.

Dez shrugs, "I guess I was just really tired," he states, still not learning to swallow before speaking.

I swallow sooner than I should, "Forget the alarm! How'd you sleep through the music?" I take a sip of some orange juice that his mom has just poured for me, thanking her quickly.

"That _is _my alarm," Dez says as if it's obvious. I give him a strange look. What, do they have a timer for when blaring music goes off or something? If we had that in our house, I'd think I'd have a heart attack waking up every morning.

Dez and I are already almost finished. His mom picks up the syrup bottles, smiling as she says, "I love to sing with my music as I do chores in the morning, and what better way to get my little Dez-poo up?"

I laugh as I take my last bite of waffles. I ate it so fast that my stomach might just explode. I don't know if I'll find room for donuts! "_H__aha, yeah I will," _I think to myself, smiling at the thought. My mom would always joke about my stomach being a "never ending black hole."

We put our plates in the dish washer and Dez feeds his crazy Chihuahua, which is apparently named Zalien (no surprise there) while I get my stuff from the basement. When I come back up, they're already getting into the car. I run out, closing the door quickly to make sure that the dog doesn't get out, and put my stuff in the back quickly. When I go back around the car, Dez is getting into the back seat.

"You can have shotgun," he says. I look over to the front where his mom is sitting, looking into the mirror and putting on green eye shadow and an unusual amount of red lipstick. She stops and puts in a CD of an artist that I recognize to be in the scream-o genre.

I turn back to Dez, laughing nervously, "That's okay, man. I'd rather sit and talk with you." And with that, I slide in next to him.

Not surprisingly (again, no offence to Dez), their car isn't exactly tidy. There's some trash and - OH! Coloring books!

I pick up a spiderman coloring book **(4)** and open it up. It's mostly colored in, but there are a few blank pages. I ask Dez if I can color in it. He smiles and nods, pulling out a zaliens coloring book from under his seat.

"_Okay, this guy is really obsessed with Zaliens..."_

"I didn't know they had zaliens coloring books!" I exclaim, taking it from his hands and examining it.

"Yeah, I have a bunch. You want to keep that one?" He pulls another one out and a box of crayons.

I grin widely at him, "You're da man, Dez," I say, then we do our special "What-up!" hand shake that we recently invented.

_"Best. Car Ride. Of my LIFE."_

_(you're never too old to color)_

Okay, it wasn't exactly the best car ride ever. Subtract the blasted scream-o and it's definitely a contender, though.

Maybe it was childish to be coloring on the ride to church, but if it is, then I don't care if I'm a man child. Sometimes, you just need to color outside the lines.

When we get inside the church, Trish appears out of nowhere and pulls Dez away not 10 seconds since we entered. She acts like she can't stand him, but I think deep down inside she loves his goofy antics. Infact, I think she likes the goofball himself. And I mean "like-like." If that ever happens though, it would have to be the most complicated relationship ever. I don't think I'd even want to be at the wedding!

I'm pulled out of my thought when I see my dad approaching me.

"Where's your friend?" He asks.

I look around quickly to see if he's in sight, but there's no sign of him.

I shrug, "I don't know."

He grabs my arm, "Okay, then you're sitting with us. I'm not letting you skip, even if you have to sit alone," he states, suddenly giving me a stern look.

I return his look, mumbling a quick, "fine." It's not like I wanted to skip, I'm just angry that he assumed that I would try to skip. I mean, I did act like I hated the idea of church before but...

My thought trails off when my dad stops, turning to go into a row...a _back_ row.

I sit down next to my mom, who was waiting for us, and give her an annoyed expression.

"C'mon mom, the back? That's so lame. Don't you want to be close to the front so you can hear the music better and stuff?"

She narrows her eyes at me, "NO, that's exactly why we're back here. The music is too loud. It's much more comfortable back here," She states. I roll my eyes.

I pull out my phone and try connecting to the wifi, but I don't know the password. I'll have to ask Dez about that later. I slip it back into my pocket, staring up the screen. One minute 'til the service starts, and counting...

Mom taps my shoulder, "Honey, if you don't like it this far back, then why don't you go sit with Ally up there?" she asks me, pointing to where Ally sits alone. At first I can't tell if it's her, but then I notice the beautiful ombre curls and I'm sure.

"_Why isn't she with Dez and Trish?" _I think.

"I don't think she wants my company," I try to back out. It's probably not true - _everybody_ likes my company - but I don't feel like being the awkward guy that goes and asks if he can sit with the lonely girl. Besides, I'm supposed to not like this girl.

"_Supposed? What is this, my responsibility not to like her?" _I question myself.

My mom doesn't let it go by.

"Oh c'mon, of course she does!" she says.

"No but I-" I start, but she's already pushing me out of my seat. "Just go! You're sitting with her," she insists.

"_UGH! Mothers...Well, at least I'll be closer to the front."_

I stand up and slowly make my way over to Ally. She's looking over the bulletin for today's service and doesn't seem to notice me coming. I take advantage and sneak up behind her, grabbing her shoulders swiftly from behind and yelling, "Boo!"

She nearly falls out of her seat, shrieking as she turns around to find me there, laughing at her reaction.

She says nothing, but simply rolls her eyes and returns to her previous position, shaking her head. She can't help but laugh with me.

"Okay, that was pretty funny," She admits.

"Funny? Try priceless!" I laugh again.

I sit down next to her. She looks at me, jokingly baffled, "Austin Moon, sitting next me?!"

"Hey, my mom is making me! Don't expect me to do this often," I joke back.

"Ohhh, I see how it is."

"It is what it is," I respond, giving her a look that says, "_what can I do?"_

"Or is it?" she smirks.

We both burst out laughing, then quickly settle down when we realize where we are.

"So, why aren't you with Trish or Dez?" I ask when it's quieted down.

She shrugs. "I don't know. I was with Trish, but she ran off with Dez somewhere and I don't know where they are."

I shake my head, smiling. "They so like each other." I state.

She smiles widely at me, eyes sparkling. Whoa, those are some huge chocolate colored eyes...

I'm snapped out of my daze when she speaks, "I know right?!" she laughs, "Imagine _that_ wedding!"

I nod in agreement, smiling at the thought of my two new friends marrying. Our conversation is cut off when the sound of the worship leaders voice echoes through the mic, asking everyone to stand up. We start out with that classic song "Amazing Grace," but with an added chorus. I actually kind of like it. Before worship is over, I find myself singing along to some songs a little bit.

Soon, the worship is over and announcements are made as the ushers come. The basket comes to my side, so I grab it and offer it to Ally to pass down. As she takes it, she slips an envelope in. I smile at her slightly, watching the basket go down the row and then redirecting my attention to the stage. The man up there is talking about a trip to an amusement park that our Youth Group is doing soon for a fairly cheap cost. I turn to Ally, smiling.

"Do you plan on going?" I whisper to her. It's not like I care if she does, I just felt like asking, okay?

She nods, "Definitely, but if you go, don't try to force onto any huge roller coasters." She gives as small shiver at the thought of the giant thrill rides.

I laugh (but quietly. We're in church, remember?) "What, you're not a roller coaster person? Oh, you shouldn't have brought that up, Ally," I say with warning, smirking at her.

"Oh no, what do you mean?" she says fearfully, but she can't hide the small smile still forming on her lips.

I shake my head slightly, still smirking as I say, "My new mission is to get you on a roller coaster."

We turn our gaze back up to the stage. "That'll prove to be a hard mission."

"I bet it will."

Our conversation ends there as the announcements finish and the pastor, pastor Ron, comes up onto the stage. He talks about patience, waiting on God even through the hard times and such. It seems interesting to me how they can trust and continue to believe that God's plan is "perfect" and that everything happens for a reason. There's so much wrong with this world that it just seems to hard to believe...it's so hard to believe that God even cares about me. About what's going on in my life.

This reminds me of something I heard once...

"_Sometimes the hardest thing to believe is the truth." _I hear a voice say in my mind. I know I heard this from a song, but I'm not quite sure what.** (5)**

I start to probe my mind for the answer, which actually causes me to get distracted from what the pastor is saying. Soon, I hear him start a closing prayer so I bow my head with everyone else. He finishes and soon we're leaving the sanctuary. When we walk out, I immediately start making my way over to the donuts as Ally excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Before I even make it to the table, I'm practically tackled. For a second I'm stunned, unable to process who or what, then I quickly realize that it's Dez.

"Are you ready for some ZALIENS?!" He asks, releasing his grip from me.

"We're leaving right now?" I ask, rubbing my shoulder. He hit it pretty hard.

"Yeah, we gotta get there early man! Don't forget to grab some donuts before we go," he says, grabbing a napkin and about three donuts. I start to grab some as well. I almost feel guilty, taking advantage of the free donut offer, but what can I say? I'm a growing boy and these donuts are delicious.

Once we've got our donuts wrapped, we start to make our way toward the doors. I notice Trish by the doors, talking with Ally. They wave goodbye as we open up the doors.

"See you guys at the theatre!" Trish says. I'm assuming that Ally is riding with Trish. I wonder if Dez is forcing them to wear a ridiculous outfit.

I yell a quick "okay" back as I try to catch up to Dez, who is full on running now.

"What's the rush?" I ask when I finally catch up to him.

"Duh, I can't eat these donuts until we get into the car!" He says as if it's obvious. I shake head again today, laughing at my ginger best friend.

Lucky for Dez, his mom is already waiting for us in the drop off. We slip into the back seat and Dez is already devouring his jelly donut in record time. I start to dig into my when Dez's mom turn around to face us, revealing her crazy Zaliens outfit that she's somehow already wearing.

"Who's ready for some brain-zapping action?!" she exclaims.

"I am!" Dez announces, giving his mom a big high five.

"_Oh great..."_

**_THAT'S IT! I was planning on having the movie scene in this chapter, but then I passed 5k words so I decided to stop here and save that for the next chapter. So, this is sort of a filler I guess, but I did try to throw some Auslly in there. :) LEAVE A COMMENT AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!_**

**_(1) This was sort of inspired by my 14-year-old sister, who gets angry or excited and throws stuff at the TV a lot, especially when it comes to romantic stuff. You can imagine what's it's like to watch Auslly episodes with her._**

**_(2) Like Austin says in "Girl Friends and Girlfriends"...or is it "Girlfriends and Girl Friends?" idek  
_**

**_(3) My art teacher always says that he loves to eat peanut butter pickle popcorn sandwiches. I don't know if he's ever eaten one, but it sure is a fun tongue twister!_**

**_(4) I got an amazing spiderman coloring book for Christmas and I love it. Just thought you should know that I still color. :D_**

**_(5) The song is "The Truth" by Relient K. It's one of my favorites. You should listen. 3_**


	7. Movies and Moments

**Hello again. I noticed that my views (and reviews) have dropped dramatically on this story, declining with each chapter. It's discouraging, but it isn't going to stop me from continuing. :)**

**_To the guest who said something about the Switchfoot tickets...that's awesome! The concert I'm going to is on October 4th and it's in Detroit._**

**_I'll respond to some other reviews before I start. :)_**

**_Randi1403 said: "...This chapter made me laugh for reasons I don't understand..." (This is only part of the review._**

**_My response: Haha, I'm glad. I love laughing for reasons I don't understand, I do it all the time._**

**_Jackie is Grey said: "Let's all color together, I love coloring. ANYWAY. OH MY GOD HE LIKES HER EYES, BASICALLY...I don't know the auslly is just way too cute!"_**

**_My response: COLORING IS WHERE IT'S AT. AND IKR? AND HE LIKES HER HAIR TOO. I GIVE MYSELF FEELS. I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT CUZ I WAS AFRAID THERE WASN'T ENOUGH AUSLLY IDK_**

**_WritermeAL said: "I'd throw a pillow at the TV when watching A&A if it doesn't turn out but all I'd get is a scolding. just found the story and I really love it! not really much of a religious person but its unique because I've never read an Auslly story taking place in church. but its great. unique and creative."_**

**_My response: Thank you! I noticed that there aren't really any other fics involving spirituality in any way, so I wanted to write this. It's not really that surrounded by church, and I tried to make it something everyone could enjoy, so I'm glad you do! Thanks._**

**_ItsYaGirlTerTer said: "Lol. I love Dez and his moms relationship its creepy...but cute. Update soon!"_**

**_My response: Haha, I kind of made up his mom, her appearance/personality and relationship with Dez all on the spot. I'm glad you love it! :)_**

**_LoveShipper said: "Tehehe nice way to spend Saturday, watching cartoons with your best friend and reliving your childhood"_**

**_My response: I know, right? What's better then bringing back good childhood memories, all while spending time with you best friend?_**

**_Singer103 said: "Yay! He sat next to her (even though he was forced to)! Is Ally going to wear the swamp bride costume? Update soon! :)"_**

**_My response: Yay! And you're about to find out... :o"_**

**_RauraAuslly said "YAY! IM GLAD IM NOT THE ONLY 14 YEAR OLD GIRL THAT THROWS STUFF WHEN SHES EXCITED ABOUT THE SHOW... :D I LOVE TO COLOR! :D AND I AGREE WITH AUSTIN... YOUR NEVER TOO YOUNG OR TOO OLD TO KNOW HOW TO COLOR! :D I LOVE THIS! UPDATE SOON! :D"_**

**_My response: YES. "And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'" ~ Jesus (Mathew 18) _**

**_haha I know that doesn't really apply to that but I felt like it okay?_**

**_And now..._**

**_Chapter 7:_**

"Stand still, or you won't look swampy enough!"

Dez slams down the face paint set in defeat, facing toward the bathroom mirror. He looks at me through the mirror's reflection, shaking his head.

"_C'mon _Dez, it doesn't matter. I don't have to look perfect! We're going to be sitting in a dark theater anyway!" I try to get through to my copper-topped buddy, but it's no use.

It's only just then that I see myself in the outfit. I almost laugh out loud. We looks ridiculous in our costumes, especially me. It's almost as if I'm wearing a giant glob of seaweed.

"_Yup, this is going to be embarrassing,"_ I think to himself.

Dez points his long skinny Zalien finger in my face. I back away slightly, startled by his sudden anger.

"I don't care, I want this to feel real. And... I want us to look better than Trish and Ally!" Is he...about to cry? Man, he must really care about this. Though I'm not sure what he cares more about - feeling like an actual Zalien or beating Trish. They must be bickering again, which is a pretty big change from earlier at church. They seemed to be getting along pretty well then. Or maybe not, because when would they have started fighting since then?

Then I remember that I didn't sit with them in the service, and Dez wasn't with her when I found him after. Maybe Dez's reason for rushing away from Trish and Ally wasn't just about eating the donuts.

I sigh. "Whatever."

Suddenly, Dez grabs me by the jaw, forcing me to look in the mirror. "Look at yourself," he commands, "You're only 87% swamp monster. Don't you want to be 100%? Don't you want to embrace the swamp monster?"

I chuckle, deciding to give in to him. "Okay. Sure Dez," My voice comes out weird because of the way he's holding my face.

"Good, now let me do my magic!" Dez picks up the brush again, rubbing it all over my nose and forehead. This continues in silence for a few moments as I wait patiently. Then it starts to tickle against my skin...like, really bad.

"_Ugh, if only I could just scratch my nose really quickly..."_

I try very hard not to flinch, but the brush is just so...so...

A giggle comes out...quite girlishly, I notice. I hope I never do something like that infront of Ally...or Trish. Or anyone for that matter. I'm pulled out of thoughts when I notice Dez's cold glare.

"I'm sorry, it just, heheh, it tickles!" I scrunch up my nose in an attempt get rid of the itch, but of course it doesn't help.

"Don't squirm!" Dez tries to hold my face still with his free hand.

"But my nose itches!" I reach to try to pull his hand off. His grip is tight, and it's starting to hurt.

"Just-"

I can't take it anymore. My arm flies up, reaching to scratch my face. unfortunately, this movement knocks the face paint set off the counter. It crashes to the ground. Dez groans.

"You know what? You just do it yourself," Dez picks up the set, shoving it into my unsuspecting arms.

I just shrug, smiling innocently. "Okay," I say, picking up the brush. "You know, you could've used the special brush for painting that came with the set, rather than an actual painting brush," I add, realizing the stupidity of the situation. No wonder my face was so itchy. Dez just mouths an "oh" as I quickly and recklessly paint the rest of my face green.

Finished, I turn to face Dez. I smile in satisfaction.

"Eh, good enough."

_~LiNe BrEaK~_

_"Hmm...sweet or sour? Or maybe chocolate? Oooo, chocolate mints!" _I debate in my mind about what snacks to buy for the movie as we wait in line. I meant to buy snacks somewhere else yesterday so that it'd be cheaper, but I forgot. It probably isn't worth my money, but I can't help it. We'll have popcorn - Dez is buying a large - but I prefer to have some sweets with it. Even at home, I never watch a movie without a good snack.

Dez pulls some money out of his pocket and counts it, then notices me examining the snack choices.

"Get the sour gummies, they're the best!" He suggests.

"Okay," I say, not really caring anymore. As long as I have some candy. These are cheaper than the chocolate mints anyway. I realize that his mom isn't in line with us. "Where's your mom?"

"She was already in costume, remember? She's probably in the theatre," he says, fiddling his money, which is hard with those long Zalien fingers. His face takes on a look of frustration.

"Oh," I say, nodding.

_"Hopefully she won't be sitting with us..."_

I reach for a pocket but I feel nothing but grassiness. I almost forgot about the ridiculous costume I'm wearing. I feel a rush of new embarrassment, noticing now that some people behind the counter are staring at us. I shake it off as I open my back pack where my clothes are, and pull my wallet from the pocket of my jeans. As I do this, I hear a small laugh behind me. It sounds familiar, and I assume it must be Trish.

I turn around and am stunned for a moment by what I see. Trish is wearing the same zalien outfit that Dez is, and Ally stands to her right, wearing white dress, like a wedding dress. She also has face paint on, making her look pale and almost lifeless. The makeup is done so well that she could look like a zombie, if it weren't for her shining eyes, so full of life. I stare at them, unable to look away.

I was right about the laugh being Trish's, though I'm not sure what she's laughing at. Ally doesn't seem to know either, judging by the confused expression on her face. She meets my gaze, and shrugs, smiling. I hope she doesn't think I was staring at her, even though I was.

"Nice costume," Ally says, laughing slightly. Her and Trish get in line with us.

I laugh also. "Did Trish force you too?" Trish has stopped laughing now, and is glaring at Dez. They start bickering, probably about something stupid.

Ally nods, then laughs again, "Dez forced you? Funny, I thought you loved horror movies," She plays with the sleeve of her dress.

"I do! But that doesn't mean that I want to dress like a mountain of seaweed!" I say. Before Ally can respond, Dez breaks in.

"Oh, awesome! You guys are matching, like I asked. For once, Trish does something right," Trish practically growls at him. For a moment, I'm confused, but then it hits me. I understand why Trish was laughing before. It's Ally's costume. She's dressed as the swamp bride. The bride of my character, the swamp monster. "_It doesn't matter, it's just a costume," _I remind myself. But it still bothers me. I can't help but feel angry at Dez, as if he planned this just to aggravate me. I suddenly remember about how he nudged me at his house yesterday. "_Ally's gonna be there."_ Clearly, Dez has some screws missing. Well, of course he does. That's obvious. What I mean is, he seems to have a misconception about me and Ally.

Or maybe I'm just reading too far into this. Dez probably just wanted us to match, and that's just how it worked out.

It seems, though, that Trish and Dez had a miscommunication about how they we're going to dress. The way they're yelling at each other, I doubt they wanted to match _that_ much.

"_Whatever, I just need to forget ab-"_

My thought is interrupted by a shocking touch. Ally looks up at me.

"We're from the same movie? I guess I should've been able to tell," she says, pointing out some seaweed that hangs off the back of her dress.

Oh yeah, Ally doesn't watch horror movies, so she wouldn't know. It's pretty sad that I couldn't tell though. I've seen _"Swamp Wedding"_ (**A/N haha, just making up a random title. Hope it doesn't seem too stupid)** at least three times.

I just nod, not saying a word. I'm trying to hide my discomfort, but I realize that saying nothing will probably just make it more obvious. She doesn't seem to notice, though.

While I was distracted, Dez moved forward in line. He buys our tickets, handing us each ours before the huge bag of popcorn arrives. He picks it up, thanking the employee before propping the giant bag into Trish's arms.

"Why do I have to carry it?" she complains.

"Because I don't want to," Dez says rudely, walking away. Trish and Ally follow.

I shake my head at their annoying bickering, stepping forward and placing my sour candy on the counter. I pay for it quickly and meet them next to the theatre. As we enter, Dez and Trish find yet another thing to fight about: whether we sit toward the front our the back. Ally suggests that they compromise by sitting in the middle, and they reluctantly agree. I sigh in relief, happy that the back and forth is over. At least, for now.

I scan the theatre for Mrs. Fisher (**A/N I'm just going to make that the last name) **and spot her sitting at the very front right. Luckily, she doesn't seem to have any intention of sitting with us.

Meanwhile, despite how angry they just were towards each other, Trish and Dez end up sitting together. Just like that, they're talking again, sharing their excitement about the movie. They already seem to be made up, as if they were never just threatening each other.

"_They're weird..." _I think to myself.

Ally goes down the row next, sitting next to Trish. That leaves me to sit on the end, right next to Ally. I'm tempted to avoid it by going all the way to end and sitting on the right of Dez, but that'd be rude. A week ago, I wouldn't have cared if it seemed rude. But now, I do care. Don't ask me why, I just do. Even if I still didn't, it wouldn't matter because a fat man has just taken the seat next to Dez. I realize that I've been standing here too long and sit down next to her quickly. She smiles at me slightly, then turns her attention to the screen as the trailers start.

This shouldn't be awkward. It doesn't have to be, but it still feels that way. _She_ doesn't feel awkward. Does she?

I look at her out of the corner of my eye. She seems focused on whatever's happening in the previews. The light from the giant screen shines on her face, making her glow. Now, instead of the white makeup making her look dead, she looks like angel. She giggles quietly, still looking at the screen. I smile. Must be a trailer for a comedy. I'm not paying any attention to that, infact I barely hear the loud surround sound around me. I change my focus to her eyes again. They're sparkling as usual, except now I can see the reflection of the screen on them. I unconsciously lean closer, trying to see if I can watch the trailer in her eyes.

Suddenly she turns her head, and rather than the screen, I see a reflection of myself in her eyes. I laugh nervously, embarrassed at her catching me staring. I look away quickly, trying to play it cool.

"I was just looking at the reflection of the screen in you eyes..." I stutter quietly as she studies me. It's the truth, but it's still just as embarrassing that I was paying attention to her rather than the screen. If it wasn't awkward before, it is now.

I notice her blush slightly, turning away. It seems like she's searching for something to say, but nothing comes out. Instead she offers me some popcorn that Trish passed to her. I take some, smiling gratefully at her.

The movie starts, and I can feel Dez's excitement from here. I try to forget our awkward moment and just enjoy the movie. I pull out my candy, carefully ripping open the bag and pouring some out. I put some in my mouth to suck on, then offer some to Ally.

"Oh, I love sour candies," she whispers, taking one.

I smirk at her, and she gives me a look saying, "_What?"_

I put a handful in her lap. She smiles up at me, laughing slightly. "You know you want more than one," I say, chuckling.

Soon, I do forget about what happened before, and I'm engrossed in the movie. It's so exciting! Violent, jarring, and futuristic! I cringe a little when one Zalien punches threw one of their eggs, eating the gooey green yolk inside. _Nasty! _Dez and I exchange a grin, then he smiles down at Trish. I look over to Ally to see if she's enjoying it, but her eyes are closed. She's drifting to sleep! I elbow her, maybe a little bit to hard, and her eyes flash open. For a moment she seems angry at me, then she relaxes, shaking her head slightly.

"How can you fall asleep during such an exciting movie?" I whisper, gesturing the gory scene unfolding before us. Her expression turns to annoyed.

"Yeah, cuz a bunch of unrealistic aliens killing each other and obviously fake blood splattering all over the place is very exciting!" She says sarcastically.

I gasp at her exaggeratedly, offended that she would say such things about one of my favorite movies. If I were Dez, I would start ranting about how great the affects are and whatever, but I don't bother. I know Ally enough to see that that's pointless.

"Wake me when it's over," she murmurs, smiling slightly at my expression. She rests her head on her palm, shutting her eyes. I watch her for a moment, breathing slowly, then I return to the movie.

A while later, I start eating more of my popcorn. The movie is at it's climax, and I'm at the edge of my seat. I continuously throw the buttery snack into my mouth, hardly chewing it before more enters. Suddenly, I feel a small pressure on my right shoulder.

I turn my head slightly to see that Ally's head resting on me. She must have fallen asleep. Either she's really tired or this movie really is that boring to her, because it is loud in here. I don't understand how anyone could fall asleep during it. I don't bother to wake her this time. I just let her sleep. It doesn't bother me, anyway. It actually feels kind of nice...

I relax into my seat a little more, trying to be still. I eat the popcorn more slowly now. The movie will be over soon, then I'll have to wake her. I debate over the different ways I can do it. I want to scare her. _Bad._

Suddenly I realize that I haven't even tried to prank anyone since that first day of school when we tried to glue Ally's pants to the chair. Usually one of the top things on my mind at school is what kind of practical joke I'm going to play next with Dallas. You're probably thinking, "_But they're high schoolers and that's such a middle-school move!" _but hey, we get good laughs out of it and I'm still sitting with the most popular kids so I don't think I'm doing anything wrong. I'm sure Dallas has been planning something though - probably something against Ally. I shake my head at the thought. I hate to admit it, but I don't want to prank Ally anymore. She's just...I don't know, I guess I just know her too well now.

But just a week ago I thought she was my new 'enemy.' I was going to humiliate her for thinking she was smarter than me and cleanly getting out of that prank. I took pleasure at the thought. Now I can't bring myself to plan any sort of plot against her.

I guess I'll just have to find a new nerd.

It hits me that I've been gazing at Ally as she sleeps and so I turn away, trying to catch up to what's going on in the movie.

"_Oh man, I missed Swartzmag's death!" I think to myself. _(**A/N Just made up a random alien sounding name. heh)**

I finish off the sour candy as the movie ends. I turn to try and scare Ally awake, but before I can Dez pops up from behind our seats.

"I'M GONNA EAT YOUR BRAINS!" He yells monstrously, causing Ally and, admittedly me to jump up, startled. Popcorn flies and I hear a high shriek, and my cheeks go red when I realize it was me and not Ally that made the sound. Ally's breathing heavily, her hand over her heart as she tries to process what just happened. Rather than laughing at her like I originally planned, I'm chasing Dez out of the theatre. He laughs hysterically as we push open the doors.

"DUDE!" I yell angrily, grabbing his shoulder when I catch up. He turns around, face red with laughter.

"Your...face...!" He says between breaths. I scowl at him.

"And was that you or Ally screaming like that?" He points at Ally, who has just joined us, then me, making a choking sound as he tries to hold in a laugh.

Trish stands beside Dez. "Calm down, Bozo, it wasn't _that_ funny," she says, but I can tell she's holding in fits of laughter too.

Ally crosses her arms. "I almost had a heart attack!" With that, Trish and Dez both burst out. Ally and I shake our heads, glancing at each other. We start moving toward the exit of the theatre as they start the chorus of "Heart Attack" by Demi Lovato **(1)** through their giggles. When they finally calm down, Dez runs back in to get a free refill of popcorn. Ally and I sit on a bench outside while we wait. Trish stands off to the side, calling her mom for pick up.

"So, what did you think of the movie?" I ask her. She smiles.

"I don't know, not much happened. Some guy was shooting a laser gun, then it was just...black," she jokes.

I shake my head, "I still don't get how you slept through that. It was so loud! What did you dream about? Explosions?" She giggles.

"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure you were involved," she says. She blushes slightly, and I can tell that she regrets saying it.

"Oh really?" I smirk.

"Uh...yeah, I don't remember much about it though," she says, avoiding my gaze.

Before I can say anything in return, Dez comes out of the building with a bag full of popcorn.

"Want some?" He says, a few kernels falling at his gesture.

"No thanks," Ally and I say simultaneously. We both smile at each other, and Dez just gives a weird look.

"Where's my mom?" He asks, just noticing that she hadn't come out yet.

It's good timing, cuz right then, she emerges from the theatre. She stops next to Dez and blows into a tissue.

"That movie...was beautiful," she states, then continues walking to the parking lot.

Ally makes a weird face and I laugh at her. Well, more like snort. I feel a pang of embarrassment, but I shrug it off. She laughs.

"Well, we better go follow my mom," Dez says, mouth now full of popcorn.

I stand up turning to say goodbye to Ally when she reaches up and hugs me. It's a quick hug, but not quick enough that I don't have time to react. But I'm taken aback a moment, so I just stand there like a fool. I finally hug back, and she pulls away a couple seconds later. "See ya," she says, waving me off as Trish grabs her.

"Yeah..." I say, but it's hardly audible. I think she heard it though, cuz she smiles slightly before turning away.

I mentally slap myself for being so weird, then catch up to Dez.

"Dude, for a second there it was like you thought the grim reaper hugged you," Dez says mockingly.

I shove him playfully, "Yeah right". I can't help the small grin tugging at my lips, or the heat rushing to my cheeks. I don't know why it freaked me out so much. I mean, it's normal to hug someone goodbye. I let out a sigh. Now I've embarrassed myself by acting like it was completely foreign to me - like I'd never hugged anyone in my life before!

Dez and I get into the back seat and his mom starts driving as we fasten our seat belts. We're in a comfortable silence for a few seconds before Dez turns to me smirking.

I cross my arms. "What?"

He places a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Austin, I won't ever hug you."

"Shuttup."

**(1) You know the song. I don't own it or Demi Lovato, of course.**

**Don't forget to leave a comment! God bless.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Let's just get this thing started. You've waited long enough. If you want explanations, look at the author's note at the end.**

**WARNING: This chapter (and possibly the one following) will be rated T for minor reasons (Mentions of virginity and menstrual cycles). Don't want to get in myself or anyone in trouble so I'm playing it safe.**

**Chapter 8:**

The rest of Sunday was pretty uneventful except for when I walked through the door and my mom saw me in my costume. I didn't feel like changing so I drove home in it, earning some weird looks from other people on the roads. It was actually pretty funny. One guy glanced at me during a red light and spilled a drink on his lap. It must have been a hot drink because I could hear him screaming from the inside of my car. That wasn't the only scream I'd heard.

My mom had no idea I'd come home dressed as a green monster, so she practically jumped out of her shoes when she saw me. I played along for a moment and started chasing her into the kitchen. She's still angry at me about it. I'm still laughing.

"_I'd do it again tomorrow if I knew she'd react like that again," _I think.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow is Monday, which means tomorrow is school. Technically it already is tomorrow (That's why I said "was" in the first paragraph") but the sun isn't up yet so I hardly count it. I know I should be sleeping now so I don't pass out in my classes, but I'm kind of afraid to. Every time I close my eyes I see a zalien ripping my head off. That movie was scarier than I thought it'd be.

I let out a moan. "Ugh, I'm such a wimp!" I whisper-shout.

But I also fear tomorrow itself. The usual. The narrow halls, the dirty bathrooms, the annoyed teachers - I dread all of it. But for tomorrow, I'm worried about the one thing I usually look forward to: social interaction.

_"**See you at lunch tomorrow?"**_

It's a question. In this case, it feels like more of a statement - a command. I've been ignoring him at lunch lately and it's about time I sat with him. I just swallowed and nodded, hoping I could. Why not? Cuz Dallas, that's why. Not just Dallas, actually. Cassidy, Trent...the people I usually sit with. The people that are my friends. Or are, at least, supposed to be. And Dez...the look on his face was killing me. It just said, "_C'mon, man...we're friends, right?" _And when I gave in and nodded, he looked so happy. He even started going on about Ally and Trish, and how we'd all be able to hand out together as he ran back to the house. Hopefully he didn't tell them that I promised anything. Then I'll have 3 people I'm disappointing if I end up not sitting with them.

You know what? I don't care. I'm going to sit with Dez no matter what Dallas says.

But maybe I could do it without him knowing...

Ugh! I'm such a horrible friend. Either way I feel like a horrible friend!

I finally lay my head back and close my eyes, just to open them again a second later to check the room. Everything's the same. No Zaliens.

No Dallas.

Is it normal to be afraid of your own friend?

I shake my head hard, as if it will actually knock these thoughts away.

Grabbing my ipod from my desk, I stick my earbuds in and put it on shuffle. I let the music play softly as I try to clear my mind.

"_Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts...Pancakes," _Maybe I'll have some tomorrow morning, with lots of syrup and strawberries, "_Gibson Sunburst ES 335..." _I'm saving up for one. Those guitars are AWESOME. I start to feel better, but then I imagine a zalien breaking the neck and using the strings to choke me, "_Think of cute things! Puppies, kittens, rabbits, Ally...hey this is helping- WHOA WHOA WHOA."_

_NO._

I'm just going to pretend that I didn't just think of Ally as 'cute.'

What?

Nope.

Never happened.

Let's try something else. How about I just count sheep? That's a classic.

I imagine them jumping over my bed as I count them. One...Two...Three...

Suddenly one's face gets distorted and mutates into a vicious alien zombie sheep. A Zaliamb? It roars and I nearly scream. _"NOT REAL," _I tell myself. The music I had playing stops and the sudden silence consumes me. Is that whispering coming from my window?

I shut my eyes tight and throw my blankets over me.

This is going to be a long night.

**(_i'm on Disney create right now haha (((LINE BREAKKKKK)))_**

_"If doing geometry is boring, and Austin is bored, then he must be doing geometry."_

That's invalid deductive reasoning. See? I understand what we're learning.

But that doesn't mean I enjoy it.

Geometry's been easy so far. Classes always are at first, because we're just recapping stuff we mostly already know. It's simple stuff: if two shapes are congruent, they're the same shape and size. If they're similar, they're the same shape but different size. If they're equivalent, they have the same area, even if, in some cases, they're totally different shapes. Then there's the logic stuff: Inductive and Deductive reasoning, valid and invalid, etc. I hardly need to use my brain it seems.

But that's the problem. It's sooo boring listening to questions and lectures on what you already know. At the same time, however, I'm grateful. This way I spend less time doing homework and have free time (to waste). And once it does get more difficult, I'll probably be wishing I could go back. Either way it's annoying.

There just _has_ to be downside to everything, doesn't there?

Finally, the class is over and I start backing up my bag. I stand up, stretching my legs briefly to recover the long sit before making my way out the door. "_Time for English, then the moment of truth: lunch," _I think to myself as I run a hand through my hair.

I notice someone come from behind and start walking beside me. Dallas.

"Hey man, I had a great idea the other day for a joke to play. Meet me at lunch," He grins evilly and takes off before I can protest. Great! I thought I made up my mind that I was sitting with Dez. Forget learning in English, I'm probably going to spend the whole time trying to think of a way out of this.

I fast walk the rest of the way there, taking a quick turn into the room. As I go through the doorway, I bump into someone. _THUMP!_

It takes a second for me to recollect myself, then I realize who I ran into. Ally sits up from where she fell and looks up at me.

"Oh uh-sorry," I say quickly, grabbing her hand and pulling her up all the way.

"No, it's my fault. I forgot my book and was on my way to my locker. I should've been looking for people entering," she spits out quickly.

I shake my head, "_No, _it's my fault. I was practically running to the room and didn't take a second to look," I insist.

As I'm expecting, she tries to retort but I stop her. "Are you okay?" I put my hand on her shoulder and scan over her briefly for any wounds, though I doubt I'll find any. I didn't knock her down that hard. I hope.

"I-I'm fine," she says, then squirms past me and out the door. She doesn't seem fine.

I sit down at my desk and Ally returns shortly, sitting at her seat without looking at me at all. She usually gives me her warm smile when she enters.

Darn, I must've hit her harder than I thought.

The teacher seems to be kind of late, so I take the time to think about lunch rather than what's going on with Ally.

Dallas wants to plan a prank. A prank against Ally, I'm assuming. I don't want to plan anything. I want to sit with Dez. I told Dez I'd sit with him. Dallas expects me to sit with him and the 'populars.' Sitting with Dez (and Ally and Trish) wouldn't go unnoticed by him or the others.

Maybe I could just tell Dallas that I was sitting with Dez. Ugh, no, that wouldn't work. Even if he didn't mind Dez or any of them, he would be upset that I was 'ditching' him. Then he'd keep bugging me about why I even wanted to sit with them in the first place.

The teacher comes in and I try to clear my mind of any distractions. If I actually want to pass this class (which I do) then I need to get at least some of what the teacher is saying. If only I wasn't so A.D.D.

I reach down and pull my notebook out for class. I notice that I don't have a pencil so I borrow one from a guy with long, black hair behind me. I'd ask Ally but I just felt weird about doing it. Plus, she's infront of me today and I don't want to tap her shoulder.

I know that even if I try my best to look up at the front and listen to the teacher, I'll only get, like, 50% of what she says, so I decide to use a trick that Dez told me about at the sleepover: drawing. He says that drawing, good at it or not, seems to help him (and others) to focus on what the teacher's saying **(1).**

**"**_When you look back at your drawings later, you can remember what she said at each part you drew. It's kind of like making a picture out of the lesson in a weird way," _Dez had said. He really isn't as dumb as he seems. He's just...different. In a good way, I'd say. He seems to enjoy life. I wish I could be more like him.

I look up at the front of the class and tap the tip of the eraser against my lip. "_What to draw...?"_

A line. That's what I start with as the teacher asks us to open our books. I do, then return to my 'creation.'

I try to turn the line into a 3D square. It's supposed to be easy, but I'm pretty sure I failed.

I draw a sad face.

"Prepositions always end with a noun," the teacher says. I'm getting what she's saying so far, so I think drawing is working pretty well for me. Let's just see how I remember it later.

A smiley face. With a tongue poking out, cause it looks cuter like that. "_Or is it more cute?"_ Ugh, having good grammar can be so hard.

I scan around the room, then focus on our teacher, Mrs. Kirk. I start trying to draw her face without looking at the paper, but it causes me to get distracted and I almost laugh out loud at the result. Mentally slapping myself (and scribbling over my drawing of my teacher), I decide to focus on one thing in the room to sketch. Suddenly, I find my self drawing squiggly lines. I stare at the model for my drawing, right in front of me: Ally. Well, not Ally exactly. Her hair.

I focus my eyes on each perfectly curled strand, trying to draw it exactly. This is much better than drawing lines or simple smiley faces. I try to lighten the pencil on the ends to capture her blonde-dipped hair, but it seems that my fingers just want to draw thick black lines. Instead, I try using an eraser to lighten the ends. That doesn't work so well. I try again anyway.

It takes a while, but I finally finish my masterpiece of her hair. Well, more like amateur-piece. It look like a black glob of ropes tied together in a giant knot. It definitely doesn't do her beautiful hair justice. I start writing "EPIC FAIL" in big caps next to my drawing when the bell rings and it hits me. I was totally in my own world for most of the class. Well, at least, the part of the class that I was drawing Ally's curls.

Yeah, I'm not doodling in class again.

"_Maybe I can look up a good way to stay focused in class on google," _I think to myself as I slip my notebook back into my bag and return the pencil to the boy I borrowed it from. He smirks at me.

"What?" I ask, raising an eye brow at him.

He chuckles, "I saw your drawing," then he goes into a full out laugh.

I stand up quickly, looking him straight in the eye threateningly. "You better not go telling stories..." I trail off, realizing that I don't know his name.

"Dan," he finishes, "And don't worry, I'm not one to gossip."

"You better not be," I mumble loud enough for him to hear. He pats me on the shoulder as he walks by me, still laughing at me.

Looks like I have another thing to worry about. Dan. _"I don't like that guy...and it's not just because of is desperate need of a shower," _I got a pretty good whiff of him as he past. Well, at least he's not going to tell the whole school about my pathetic attempt at drawing Ally's hair. I wonder if he even knew that was what I was drawing. That's how bad it was.

But what if he was lying? Could he be laughing at me with his friends right now? Is my social life now ruined forever because I have no artistic abilities whatsoever?!

Breathe. I let some oxygen fill my lungs, then push it out slowly. Repeat. _"Gosh, I get stressed easily."_

No need to freak out. My whole life doesn't depend on my social status. Well, not if I let it, which apparently I am.

_Pathetic. _The word creeps into the back of my mind. That's exactly what I am. Pathetic.

But these people don't need to know that. That's what we have masks for.

I put on my fake smile and speed up my walk to the cafeteria. This is it. The moment I've been dreading all day. The very thing I'd usually look forward to most in a school day.

Lunch.

I step through the doors, surveying the room. People are pouring in from the different entrances, meeting up with friends and pulling up seats to squeeze in other people at their table. I see no sign yet of Dallas, or Dez. I brief sense of relief fills me for a moment before I grab a tray and get into line. Usually I'd pack a lunch the night before, but in the business of everything I guess I forgot. Fortunately, the food at our school isn't so horrible. It's not so good, but it's not mystery meat bad like in the TV shows. I can tolerate it.

The lunch lady plops some slimy mac-and-cheese onto my plate and I almost gag. Okay, maybe it is horrible. I grab an apple. These look edible. A little bit bruised, but edible. I reach for a plastic fork when someone grabs my shoulders roughly from behind me. I hold in squeal as I turn around the glare at none other than Dallas. He laughs. "Less time for food, more time for talking. C'mon!" I just get a grip on the utensil as he pulls me away. "Wait!" I yell out in a panic, stopping in my tracks. He turns to look at me. "What?"

I stare at him, unable to speak for a moment while he just raises an eyebrow at me.

"I-" I finally stammer out, "I...can't sit with you today," I mumble.

There's a pause, then he scoffs. "What? Too cool to sit with me now? What are you going to do, sit with the chess team?"

"Yeah right," I shoot back quickly. I almost say, "Why do you care, anyway?" But I realize that it won't help.

"Seriously, dude, I have something I need to tell you...and you always sit with us - we're your friends!" He motions to where Trent and Cassidy sit.

Friends? Sure. Good ones? Not so much. That goes for both of us.

Before I retort, everyone else starts waving me over and the next thing I know, I'm sitting across from Dallas. "_I hope Dez isn't in here yet..." _I think as I try not to freak out.

Dallas leans down to pick up his lunch back from under his, and I take advantage by quickly whipping my head around and scanning the room. I scan quickly, but somehow I catch a reddish patch of hair. I refocus and, unfortunately, lock eyes with Dez. He frowns and turns away. I start to see Ally approaching him but turn away myself.

"What're you looking at? Is that where you wanted to sit?" Dallas says when I turn back to face him.

"Uh, no. I wanted to sit, with, um, some cute girl I met earlier..." I lie, hoping he'll understand. He's had a few crushed himself. Or just Cassidy, but I'm pretty sure she likes me. Stinks for both of us, since I have no interest in her.

Dallas makes a gross face. "Ally was over there..." he states, saying her name rudely.

I'm shocked by his implications and burst out.

"What? NO! Are you kidding me? A different girl. We, uh, just met today." I make up, trying to sound convincing. His facial expression tells me that it doesn't.

"_I hope to God he doesn't get suspicious."_

"Who then?"

Darn.

I attempt to avoid answering. Calling out a random name or making up a girl will only make this worse.

"Why do you need to know all about my love life? Give me some privacy, man."

He stares at me for a moment as I think I might be holding my breath, then he breaks. "Whatever, let's just get to the _real_ conversation," A sinister like smile starts to cover his facial features. I try to mimic his excitement when really I'm just feeling pain and frustration. Dez is clearly upset with me, and while he seems like a forgiving person, I can't help but fear the worst. That I'll be stuck sitting with these people I hardly know anymore forever. That I've somehow just made the mistake that will officially make my life miserable (not like I was exactly happy before.) And I know I'm overacting. But what teenager doesn't?

I could stop this. I could tell Dallas no and walk away. I could apologize to Dez right now and be honest about myself. Whatever that even means. "Myself" just confuses me.

I force myself to tune into Dallas as he speaks. "I've been thinking about how we can get Ally back for what happened on the first day of school," he starts. Without thinking, I interrupt him.

"Get her back for what? For saving herself from embarrassment when we tried to humiliate her?" It comes out sounding oddly defensive.

"Whoa dude, are you on her side now? What happened when you "studied" with her?" He asks, making quotation marks with his fingers on the work "studied."

_"I could punch him right now..."_

I start to blush at his possible implications, then replace it with a scowl. "I'm not on her side, I'm just saying," I cross my arms and gesture for him to continue. He looks confused at my actions but moves on anyway.

"Well, if you're even still up for it," he starts, shooting me an annoyed expression before continuing, "I was thinking of using what she did to me against her."

"You mean when she wouldn't date you?" He immediately shushes me, speaking his next words in a low voice.

"Quiet! But yeah, that. We could spread rumors about her being a virgin and stuff. I don't know why I didn't think of this before!" This is horrible, but I somehow find myself nodding at his words.

"You gotta think further than that," Trent's voice cuts in, surprising me, "People will move past the whole "virgin" thing. If you really want to get her, you have to destroy her social life." He states it like it's so simple. Like he destroys people's social lives all the time. He adjusts his Miami Dolphins hat on his buzz-cut hair and refocuses on his food as Dallas glares.

"You weren't a part of this conversation, Trent," he says, though clearly intrigued by the dark-skinned boy's suggestion. Trent smirks.

"Let's just skip to the part where I tell you my brilliant idea," he says, taking a sip of his soda. Dallas let's him. I make no move to stop it. I want to, but at the same time I'm curious about what he's going to say.

"Get a pad (or tampon) and dirty it in some way - make it believable and make it _smell_- then, when the chance comes, put it in her purse or locker," he says, grinning evilly. Dallas laughs. I try not to gasp in horror. That prank is cruel, even for us.

"That's perfect!" Dallas approves, fist-bumping Trent. "So, are you getting the pad or putting it in?"

"_How about you're on your own!" _I imagine myself saying. Instead...

"This is too gross for me...can we just eat lunch?"

He laughs, and we continue eating. Several times I try to think of something to say that will get me out of this, but instead I just keep filling my mouth with food, feeling desperate for once to get to class. At one point, I sneak a glance over at Dez's table. He's eating silently while Trish chats to another girl. Ally, who's sitting to the Latina's left, is trying to read some book while munching on a pickle. It's almost as if she feels my eyes on her, because she looks up in my direction. I try to give her a smile. She just shakes her head slightly before returning to her book, her face expressing one clear thing.

Disappointment.

**Sorry if this chapter isn't that good. I'll probably go through later and fix some mistakes and such.**

**(1) This is something I've always done to help focus in Church and things like that.**

**Oh and for that explanation.**

**Well, there really isn't much to say other than "busy." That's what everyone's been saying, right? Well, that's life. Even more now that school has started - I had a LOT of homework this week, but I worked hard to finish so I could write the rest of this. I'm going to try to do more writing tomorrow and Monday. But I can't garauntee fast updates at all this fall, because on top of school, I might have a job soon. And on top of that, I've joined a worship band for my homeschool academy. And on top of that, I signed up for the worship arts at my church.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading! Please leave your thoughts. :) God bless.**


	9. Texting and Trouble

**Thank you for 100+ reviews. :) Shout-out to the hundredth one, I love Kick Ausally and GeCe! haha, nice username. I don't watch Disney XD and I don't ship GeCe but Auslly's in there so...OH AND TONIGHT AUSLLY MAKES OUT. MWHAHAHAHAH what**

**Sorry if my story is ever cheesy or boring. I know sometimes I get my own thoughts and opinions on this world inserted in there and I start to sort of rant. Then I get frustrated cuz it's too much _me_ and not enough _Austin._ Don't be afraid to call me out on things! I want to get better. **

**(Warning: I'm going to go ahead and rate this chapter T again. Don't worry, there's no foul language or sexual content. It's just the...seriousness of his thoughts and other minor things in later chapters.)**

**Quick recap:**

* * *

_At one point, I sneak a glance over at Dez's table. He's eating silently while Trish chats to another girl. Ally, who's sitting to the Latina's left, is trying to read some book while munching on a pickle. It's almost as if she feels my eyes on her, because she looks up in my direction. I try to give her a smile. She just shakes her head slightly before returning to her book, her face expressing one clear thing._

_Disappointment._

* * *

Disappointment. Not like "Aw man, I really want to sit with Austin, he seems like such a cool kid!" disappointment. It's more of a motherly kind. Almost like when you fail a test and your mom has nothing to put up on the fridge. I told Dez that I'd sit with him, and I didn't. I've disappointed him...but in a different way, I've disappointed her. And for some reason, this crushes me.

I'm not done eating, but I seem to have lost my appetite. I get up without a word and dump out my tray. As I watch the trash fall into the can, I imagine myself in there with the rest of the garbage, throwing away my life. Just a worthless piece of trash.

And that's oddly what I feel like right now. Like I keep throwing parts of me away. Then I get some back, then throw it out again. I can't decide what's trash and what isn't.

Suddenly, it hits me. If this prank happens, then I can't let Ally or anyone find out that Dallas did it. If I can't stop him (which I will try to do) maybe I can make sure he's sneaky about it. Because everyone knows that if Dallas is involved, then I must be involved too.

I have to make sure it doesn't happen. Somehow.

Because I'd lose all of them. Dez, Ally and Trish. They'd probably never forgive me. I don't know when I started caring, but I do.

I care a lot.

(((_LiNe BrEaK! Today Phil Vischer, founder of Veggietales and voice of Bob the tomato and other characters, is speaking at my Church. Jealous much?)_

I spent the rest of the school day avoiding everyone. One guy bumped into me in the hall at the end of the day and I swear I almost jumped out of my skin. I thought he'd be Dallas. Or worse, Dez.

You're probably thinking, "_Huh? Why didn't he go apologize to Dez? Isn't that what he wanted to do?"_

And you're right, it is what I wanted to do. But I couldn't face him in that state, especially knowing the chances that Ally would be with him. Or Trish. She's scary when she's mad. And while she acts like she hates him, I know she wouldn't let anyone get away with hurting Dez in some way. Because that's her job.

Don't you just love love-hate relationships? Well, if you asked me, there's more love than hate. But maybe I'm just crazy. I sure feel like it.

I pluck the top string of my guitar so hard I'm surprised it doesn't snap in my face. I thought I'd play a happy song to make myself feel better, but all that comes out is sad, disgusting sounds. My fingers won't cooperate.

My life won't cooperate.

Since I got home, I feel...heavy. It seems like takes so much effort just to move. But also like a clunky robot that's just going through the motions everyday. Wake up. Go to school. Learn something. Pretend to like my friends. Worry about everything. Go home. Do homework. Drown in my nothingness until I fall asleep. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Repeat until my heart fails me.

Or someone makes it stop. Like stabbing me or something. That seems nice.

"_No, I'm not going suicidal here...I have more to live for..."_ I tell myself. If I'm honest, it sure doesn't feel like I have anything to live for. At least, not anything meaningful.

But who knows? Maybe one day I'll be a famous singer, get married and have kids. Scratch that, I can't have both. We all know how celebrities' marriages usually go. I guess if I had to pick, it'd be to have a family. I could always put on concerts for them. Maybe I could have a wife that sings too, then we could sing lullaby duets as the kids fall asleep.

The thought actually makes me smile. Maybe then I'd truly be happy. My real life would finally begin. **(1)**

_**"**Maybe I should stop dreaming about the future and try living NOW," _I think. It's hard to imagine myself being "happy" now when my whole world is crashing. Like a castle built on the sand. It seems great - it's got a nice ocean view and I've got all of my loyal subjects. But then the tide comes in and the sands sink, my castle going down with it. And in my frantic repairs, I discover that my "loyal" people I mentioned never really cared, and to be honest...I didn't care, either. Because I don't know them past their names.

_PLUCK! _This time it snaps and cuts my finger. Wonderful.

I get up to get a bandage from the clustered drawer under my desk. Papers, papers, OH! Bubble gum. A dirty dime. More papers. Where are they? I shuffle some more. Finally, I find them in a small first aid kit next to some guitar strings. I'll replace the broken one later. Right now I've got some blood ready to stain my shirt.

Oh.

Nevermind. It's too late to prevent that now. _"Stupid long sleeves...I hope we've got some strong stain remover."_

Right then I hear my phone ding from my bag, but I ignore it. I don't feel like texting anyone, and it's probably from Dallas anyway.

After some fiddling, I pull the Band-Aid out of the wrapping. It's yellow, my favorite color. I wrap it tightly around my finger, not bothering to wash the cut. It's minor, so I'm not worried about it.

I pick up the wrapper from where I left it on the desk and notice something. It's my old Bible, exactly where I left it from a few days ago. It's already picked up dust. I scoop it up with my non-bandaged hand and toss it carelessly onto my bed, stopping to prop my guitar up properly on it's stand. The remains of the string isn't coming out without a fight, so I leave it for now. I don't even have the energy to deal with it anyway.

I let some more sunlight into the room before setting myself on the mattress in a pretzel sit. Then, I begin the staring contest. Me vs. my Bible. The cover stares back at me. It simply says, "Holy Bible," but I can almost see the letter changing to form, "READ ME." My eyes focus too hard and the letters blur. I'm loosing. I try to give it a glare but it just feels ridiculous, so I laugh. I laugh like a crazy person until I hear my dad yell for me to shut up. I glance at the book again. Memories of what happened the last time I opened the thing rush back to me, and I kick it away. Gently, though. Don't want God to get angry at me anymore than He is.

_Ding_. There it goes again.

I roll off the bed and retrieve my phone. I'm glad I turned off the "Allow others to see when you've read messages" thingy. I think I'm safe.

I unlock the home screen of a stack of pancakes (What? It's a healthy obsession) and my eyes settle on the name "Ally."

* * *

_From: Ally Dawson_

_5:03 PM_

_Hey. Dez wants to know if u r still going to Youth Group this week. He got his phone taken away becuz he kept texting the dog. At least that's what he said._

_5: 20 PM_

_...Are you okay?_

* * *

"_Are you okay?" _My eyes read over the words multiple times. She isn't just asking because it was taking a while for me to respond. I can just tell. She's really asking this. Why does she care? She should be angry at me for ditching Dez. She had every right to be. But what makes her ask, anyway? Can she read me like a book? Could she see my misery at school or am I so open that she can read me through a phone screen?

Unless she's stalking me through the window...

Nope, no Ally there.

Did I really just check that?

I push away my random thoughts and type a message.

* * *

_To: Ally Dawson_

_Ya, I'll b there._

* * *

Almost a minute passes, then I add:

* * *

_To: Ally Dawson_

_Tell Dez I'm sorry._

* * *

I stare at the screen, anticipating her response while the regret of asking her to apologize for me starts to seep in. Again, more evidence of what a horrible friend I am.

The screen informs me that she's typing.

* * *

_From: Ally Dawson_

_U should probably tell him yourself._

* * *

I sigh. Of course she's right. I wish I could text him now, but like she said, his phone is gone. How do you even text a dog?

I ponder on that for a moment as I sit back on my bed. Before locking my phone, I type quickly:

* * *

_To: Ally Dawson_

_I will._

* * *

I run a hand through my hair and sigh again. Today has been a long day. I hear my mom calling me down for dinner as I slide my old Bible under the bed.

"Coming!" I yell back down the steps. I need to put some pants on. What? It feels so free, and I'm alone in my own room. Don't judge.

I slip on some shorts and I'm almost out my door when I hear my phone ding again. I pull it out of my pocket and smile down at the screen.

* * *

_From: Ally Dawson_

_Good. :)_

* * *

_(TUESDAY NIGHT!1!1! You know what that means?! Absolutely nothing. :D Except this Tuesday is special, because Switchfoot's Fading West EP came out! It's SO good. )_

I rip the wet bandage off my finger and drop it into the garbage. _"Water proof band-aids!"_ Biggest. Lie. Ever. One hand wash and their gone.

Rubbing my oxygen-deprived finger, I walk out of the boy's bathroom, dodging a couple sweaty guys along the way.

"_Must've just gotten out of gym."_

Originally, I went in the bathroom to look for Dez, which I've been doing all morning. But I can't seem to find him anywhere. Hopefully he's not avoiding me.

I walk quickly through the halls (since we're not allowed to run), bumping into a few people and mumbling apologies before moving on. Finally, I spot Ally at her locker with Trish. That's some progress. The curly-haired Latina scowls at me and I remember that they're probably angry too. But Ally does her usual thing and smiles at me.

"Hey guys, where's Dez?" I ask, "I've been looking for him."

Trish starts to say something along the lines of "Why do you care?" but Ally interrupts her.

"He had to stay home from school. The dog food didn't agree with his stomach," she answers. A small smile somehow tugs at my lips, because that's so Dez, then I frown.

"Is he...angry?" I ask. It's kind of a stupid question, I know. I can feel Trish's annoyance increase. I ball my hands into fists in my pockets unconsciously.

Ally shakes her head slightly, "Not really. Just hurt, I guess." Hurt, and angry.

"I really am sorry, guys," I say, looking at Trish, then Ally. "I didn't mean for-"

"Oh whatever, blondie. We don't care. Just save it for Dez," Trish cuts in, snarling at me. Ally brushes her off.

"It's fine," Ally says, giving me a small smile as she looks up at me through her lashes. My stomach flutters as I nod. I swallow it down. Nerves.

Ally opens her mouth as if to say something, then decides against it. She closes her locker, and before walking away says, "See you tomorrow, Austin."

I tell her to count on it. Trish tells me she won't be.

I stick my tongue out at her.

There's no way I'm missing youth group now.

(_*sigh*...I could've finished this already if I'd found time to write. Anyway, LINE BREAK!1!1!1__)_

The cold water hits my face with a shock. I guess I wasn't really awake after all. I've been half-asleep all day, and in that last class I'm pretty sure I was about 90% gone.

I rub my face dry with the rough paper towel and walk out of the bathroom. I'll be going into lunch a little late today, but it's not like I was any hurry to get there.

Slowly, I make my way down the now mostly empty halls, my bag feeling like a crushing weight on my shoulder. Did someone put bricks in there today? Maybe some sort of revenge prank? Or maybe I'm just weak from lack of sleep.

The thought of putting something in someone's bag as a prank brings unpleasant thoughts into my head, so I try to shake it off. But my shoulder still hurts and I can't get my mind off of it.

By the time I finally reach the cafeteria I'm about 193,568,792% done.

I drop the dead weight and drag myself in, my eyes immediately searching my usual table. Trent and Dallas seem engrossed in a conversation - and a bad one at that.

"_Good, maybe Dallas can make his evil plans with Trent instead. Being replaced sounds good to me right now,"_ I think.

Still, it doesn't change the fact that I know about their evil plans.

As I find my lunch bag, I spot Ally and Trish in their usual spot. Trish is on her phone and it looks like Ally's studying the back of a snack bag or something. They haven't waved me over - they haven't even noticed me yet, but I start walking over. Dez may not be there, but it seems better to me than sitting with Trent and company.

I go around the table so that I come up behind Ally, in hopes of surprising her. She's still reading the bag so I peer over her shoulder. It doesn't take long for her to notice.

"Austin, you startled me! What are you doing?" She says, after jumping slightly at my appearance.

"Sitting here," I say, slipping into the seat next to her, "What are you doing? You were studying those things as if there's a test." I notice after finishing my sentence that those "things" are crunchy chocolate snack bites. I hope she's sharing.

"I wasn't _studying_, I was checking the ingredients. I'm allergic to cashews," she explains, setting the snack down and picking up her water bottle.

"Are there any in there? Cuz I'd be happy to get rid of them for you," I joke, rubbing my belly. She laughs.

"_Maybe _I'll possibly consider sharing one with you," she says, ripping open the bag.

Trish's hand comes unexpectedly and steals a treat from the bag. "After she's done sharing with me!"

Ally laughs again and I get that fluttering...again. I pull out my water bottle, hoping to quench it with some water.

Trish continues, "Why are you here, blondie? What about your friends?" She points over to Dallas. I don't bother to turn my head.

Ally echoes her, "Yeah, why are you sitting here? Dez isn't even here today."

I take a good sip before I answer.

"I don't know, maybe cause I want to?"

She stares at me for a moment, then returns to her half-eaten sandwich as Trish returns to her phone. I start unpacking my lunch as Trish bursts out laughing at a text.

"Who ya texting?" I ask mockingly. She glares, starting to formulate her sentence when Ally beats her to it.

"Dez, most likely," she giggles as Trish shakes her head.

"Oh, so it's not?"

She moves a long black curl behind her ear. "Well, it is, but what makes you assume that?"

Ally and I laugh. I guess she agrees with me more-love-than-hate thing.

Wait, I thought Dez got his phone taken away? Must've been a one-day thing. It's not like Ally would lie about that. His parents don't seem strict either, and all he did was "text" his dog...

We're still laughing as Trish shakes her head and says, "Wow, you guys are even crazier than Dez." And with that, she returns to texting him.

Ally and I smile at each other and I finally start eating my lunch. I almost forgot how hungry I was. After a minute or so, Ally pokes me and points to Trish. For a second I'm not sure why - She's still texting Dez like she was a minute ago - but then I notice. Trish hasn't eaten any of her lunch yet. Whatever they're texting about, it must be pretty interesting. I can't help myself when I say, "What are you guy texting about, anyway? Must be pretty juicy if you forgot about your delicious chocolate snacks here," I say as I steal a couple from Ally. She slaps my arm away playfully, but it's already in my mouth. I try not to laugh or choke as I chew and swallow.

"You."

I hardly notice Trish say it at first because of what happened between me and Ally, but I finally register it. She hasn't even looked up from her screen, which somehow makes her answer even more believable. Why would they be talking about me? _What_ about me? Good or bad? Most likely bad.

"What?" I choke out. I shift my body toward Trish and lean over the table, Ally taking interest as well.

Trish snorts, "Relax blondie, we're not gossiping about you or something. We're not even _really_ talking about you, it just sorta came up," She finally lifts her eyes from the screen and takes a bite from some of her food.

"What came up? Crap. Man, If he's so angry than can you tell him I'm sorry? I'll apologize to him personally tomorrow," I spit out each sentence quickly. She laughs at me again.

"It's nothing. Don't worry. He's not angry," She smirks, and I can tell she's hiding something. Something that she finds very entertaining. Did I tell Dez anything embarrassing that he could be telling her about right now?

"_No, he wouldn't do that..."_

I let Trish return to her text conversation, and turn to look at Ally. She's seems confused too. I whisper to her.

"Do you have any idea what she could be talking about?" I ask.

She shakes her head.

"You're her best friend, maybe she'd tell you...?" I decide it's worth a shot, but Ally shakes her head again.

"When it comes to Dez, she doesn't tell me much. I guess I could try though, " she says quietly.

"Thanks."

((LINE BREAK) **_This is random and I know you guys don't know me, but I could really use some prayers right now. TO STORYYYY)_**)

I just barely got my sandwich finished before the bell rang. I didn't get to eat anything else, but I'll be fine. Right now I'm just so grateful that I didn't run into Dallas at any point. He's probably wondering where I was. Or maybe he already knows.

I considered warning Ally about them a few times, but I don't know how. I know that if I don't I'll regret it. But still, I hesitate. Because I'm scared. I'm scared of Dallas and Trent turning on me, or Ally not believing, or it being really awkward, or her secretly being an alien, or...

Wow, I think WAY too much **(2).** You've probably noticed.

It's the end of the day now, and I'm trying to register all of the large amounts of homework I have to do tonight when he finally catches me (We're not in any classes together during the second half of the day). **(3)**

"Austin, where you been? I haven't had a chance to talk to you since first period," he says Trent lagging behind him. They seems like good buddies now.

"Oh, um, did you see me at lunch?" I ask in response.

"No, I tried looking around just before the bell rang but couldn't find you. Where were you? Sitting with the girl?"

For a second I'm thrown off, because I think he means Ally. Then I remember about the lie I told before about the new girl and play off what he said, trying to act casual.

"Yeah, sorry, couldn't resist. You guys didn't look like you missed me, though," I say. He doesn't deny it.

"You missed out! Trent was telling me about some AWESOME pranks he pulled in Junior High! Luckily for us, he's coming out of retirement," Dallas says, patting his new friend on the back. Trent, unfortunately, changes the subject back to me and my lies.

"What girl did you sit with?" He asks quizzically, raising an eye brow.

I start to panic, realizing that Trent probably won't back down as easy as Dallas did. Maybe I could just say it was Ashley from study hall? But what if they said something to her and found out that I didn't sit with her?

I'm still far from figuring out an answer when Dallas adds on, "Yeah man, are you ever going to tell? We're going to find out eventually." He's right, but all he'd be "finding out" is that I've been lying to him.

"I'll tell you guys later, okay? We can be girls and have a sleepover," I joke, trying to get away from them.

I wasn't expecting the response. "We should! Call of Duty all night!" They do a fist bump handshake.

"Sure guys, whatever. I've got to go right now, okay?"

I start walking down the hall but I hear Dallas say, "We've got a lot more to talk about then, Austin!" I hear them laughing. I don't even turn around when I yell back an 'okay.'

I walk out of the building and sit on the steps of the school. It feels nice out. That's the great thing about Miami: the weather's always warm. Though sometimes I do wonder what it'd be like to have a white Christmas. The closest I've ever gotten to that is a sand-snow man. And the fake snow they have at the mall.

I stare at the ground and imagine it covered in snow. _"That'd be so weird..."_

I need to convince my parents to let us go up north for vacation during Christmas break. If I make it that far.

Breathing in the fresh air, I feel relief and freedom from the wretched building behind me. Then I remember that tomorrow I have to come right back and try to survive again. I cross my arms in my lap and bury my head in them. I'm not going to cry, just silently be really sad.

"Austin?"

I hear my name in a familiar yet quiet voice and lift my head.

Ally's sparkling eyes look down at me and I feel myself smile. "Whatcha doing?" She asks.

"Sitting," I say plainly. She takes the liberty of sitting beside me.

"What are you doing out here already? Aren't you going to hang around?" I ask. I assume she's walking home like she does some days.

She lets out a huff of a laugh, "I'm actually waiting for my dad. He's coming by here and insisted on picking me up. Trish is a bit busy right now anyway."

I laugh out loud. "Is she still texting him?"

She nods. "Those two are confusing," she confirms what I'm already thinking.

There's a silence before I blurt out. "They're going to be an fighting old married couple someday."

She laughs and leans on me for support, and I feel myself start to blush. I adore her laugh, and it feels oddly good to be the one to initiate it.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one that sees that coming," she says, pushing herself back up.

There's more silence as we just sit there, waiting. I'd have probably started walking home, but I decided that I don't want to just leave her here alone. It won't hurt to wait until her dad arrives.

"You okay, Austin?" she asks out of nowhere, looking at my intently.

I'm caught off guard. What makes her ask this? She texted it last night, and now here she is again. She actually seems to care.

"Yeah, just fine. Why do you ask?" I fiddle with the strap of my bag to keep from looking at her.

"It just seems like something's bothering you," she says, still watching me. I'm not sure how to respond to this. Luckily, I don't have to, because Mr. Dawson's car appears in the pickup. She says goodbye and I mumble a "see ya" back as she gets up. I watch her walk to the car, then I catch her father eying me. I look down.

I sigh and get up, throwing my bag over my shoulder. I start to walk when I hear Ally call me again and look back. She's standing with the door open. She gives me that warm smile again and says, "See you Wednesday night."

Before starting my trek home, I return her smile and say only loud enough for me to hear,

"Count on it."

**hmm, not sure if I like that ending...**

**(1) Don't think like this guys! Life is NOW! :) Oh and true happiness is only found through Jesus. 3**

**(2) "Over Thinking" by Relient K. Listen to it and think of chapters and choices auslly. It kills me. Oh and my mom always tells me that I overthink way too much. She's probably right.**

**(3) Sorry if the school stuff gets inaccurate or mixed up, I'm having trouble keeping up with what his classes are and when. (Also, I'm homeschooled, so I don't know how many periods there'd usually be. I go to a homeschool academy once a week and there are 5.)**

**I'll try to update again soon! DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT FADING WEST (ep) it's beautiful music, guys. **

**Review? :D**


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